RWBY - Team IMPL
by MRnoodle101
Summary: Check on this periodically, because I'll try to upload new chapters as much as I can. The chapters are short, but this is just the rough draft. I tried to put in line-breaks, but the website just deleted them, so parts of the story will jump forward. Just roll with it. The beginning is a little rough, but it gets better as the story progresses. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1:**

watch?v=CtMXnr293zU

Well, this day would probably be the worst day in my sixteen years of living. I had had some pretty bad ones before, but this one tops all the rest.

I was facing Grimm, evil monster animal things. A King Taijitu was in front of me. All that I had was my semblance and my fists. I admit that it isn't the best arsenal to use against the Grimm, but hey, it was all I got (at the time).

Before I go on about my untimely death by snake, I must go back a bit. Actually, a lot of bits. It all started when I first attended Beacon, at the beginning of the year. I got on the airship, crowded by people, and we took off. It was way too crowded for my liking, so I immediately wound my way over to a corner in the back.

I stared out the window, enjoying the view, when suddenly there was a commotion on the other side of the airship. People were pointing out the window, speaking in awe. I decided to look out the window and see what they were pointing at. On my way, a boy with blonde hair ran by, about to puke, face already green.

I quickly jumped back to avoid Vomit Boy, and he ran past towards the trash cans. He didn't make it, and he puked all over a guy in awesome armor's shoes.

I tried, but failed, to hide a smile, and went on my way to the window. As I neared the it, I realized why everybody was in awe.

The sight outside the window was amazing. It was Beacon, the school I had wished to attend since I was little. The towers were huge, the banners were intricate, the great magnificence of it was stunning. I don't get impressed easily, but this sight was one thing that I just couldn't look away from.

The airship started to descend, and I snapped out of my awe-inspired trance. People started to crowd around the doors. I joined them, but stayed towards the back. The ship touched down, and there was a small jolt as we landed. The doors opened, and everybody started to file out.

It was loud outside. People were in groups everywhere, and it seemed to be that most of the soon-to-be-students had at least one other buddy. I was one of the few people that didn't have a friend, so I started to walk towards the main building.

Suddenly in the background, I heard a loud boom. I turned around to see what had happened, ready for trouble, and I saw a cloud of red smoke about three hundred yards away.

When it cleared, I saw two people. One was a girl in red, and the other was a girl dressed in white, yelling at Red.

I started to go and see what had happened (and maybe try to save Red), but another girl, dressed in black, came up and took the place that was going to be mine.

I turned back around to go back to my original destination, but I ran into a guy with some heavy armor, messed-up brown hair, and a huge watch on his right hand.

"I am so sorry," he apologized.

"No, it is my fault," I responded. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Well, now that we have both apologized for something we didn't do, why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Michal Nickel."

"I'm Pyrosius Ammora, but my friends all call me Pyro."

"I got it." We both started to walk towards the main hall. When we got there, it was already crowded. There were some faces that I recognized from Signal, but most people I didn't know.

I also noticed some other people in the crowd. There was Vomit Boy, Red, the girl in white, and another girl with long blonde hair, who was kind of attractive.

"So Michal," I began. "You see anybody here that you know?"

"Nobody but you. Anybody look familiar to you?"

"Just some people from Signal, but I don't really know them."

Suddenly a man that I knew very well walked up to the microphone on the stage.

"I'll... keep this brief," Ozpin started. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." That earned a sudden murmuring from the crowd, but it got quiet again when Ozpin started talking again. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

When Ozpin left the stage, Glynda Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:**

watch?v=EczdC7_WxVQ

We all packed our weapons and armor into lockers. Mine was actually right next to Michal's so at least I wasn't right next to anybody I didn't know. On the other side of me, there was an attractive girl with black hair and purple streaks in it. She had two knives in her knee-high boots and a belt with several different pouches.

I carefully took off the twin swords strapped to my back, and placed them into the locker. Then, I took off the blue scarf around my neck. The next item I took off was a hidden bone-handle knife that I always kept strapped to my back. I put that off to the side. Armor, gauntlets, leather under-armor, it was all taken off.

I took off the shirt that I was going to sleep in, put the bone-knife's sheath on, and put the shirt back on. I always kept my knife hidden on me. I learned in my childhood to never let your guard down, and I always had the knife on me.

I actually didn't think that Michal's armor would fit in the locker, but it did. For some reason, he took off his watch and stuck it in his locker, too.

"Why are you taking off your watch?" I asked.

"Its not really for telling time," he said.

"What is it for? Fashion or something?"

"Actually, it is my weapon," he admitted.

"What?"

"My weapon turns from this 'watch' into a gun, then into a knife."

"Show me."

He shrugged his shoulders, then went back into his locker and got his watch. He put it on, then pumped his arm back. The watch started unfolding on his wrist, and it enveloped his hand. After a few seconds, I could see a barrel extending from the top of his weapon. His weapon was smoothing out, so instead of a hand there was a round nub with a tube sticking out the front. On the back, a hammer came out. Towards the middle of the nub, a cylinder appeared.

When he was done, he held up his hand-revolver-thingy, and the hammer pulled back on its own.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "Thats awesome!"

"I call it the Silver Glory ," he said with admiration. He then pumped his arm again and twisted his wrist, and the Silver Glory turned from the revolver-thingy into a knife in a few short seconds.

The knife was silver, with a brown handle. The cross-guard was a gold-bronze color. Instead of the blade ending in a point, it was flat a few inches where the point should have been.

He flicked the blade down, and it turned from a knife to a watch again. He took it off and put it back in his locker.

"Ya, I am proud of it, but sometimes it doesn't cover what the job demands."

"My weapons are kinda like that too," I said, gesturing towards the swords in my locker. "My swords, Thunder & Lightning, combine into a rocket launcher. As you can tell, some jobs don't really need a high-explosive weapon, unless it is Grimm extermination.

"Ya, I can tell." Michal glanced up towards my eyebrows. "Hey, why do you still have on your bandana?"

I reached my hand upwards and felt the piece of cloth that covered my eyebrows and ears.

"I never really take it off."

"Really? What if you are in the shower?"

"Then I take it off, you sicko," I said, smiling.

"Why don't you take it off?"

"Its a secret," I whispered.

"I am great at keeping secrets," he replied in a hushed tone.

I looked around to make sure nobody was listening. I then realized that we were the only ones left in the locker room. Everybody else had left while we were talking.

I motioned for him to come closer, and I quietly whispered into his ear: "I am still not telling you."

"You suck."

After we had finished putting our stuff in our lockers, we quickly ran off to try to find where the others had gone. It took a few minutes, but me and Michal eventually found our way to the main hall again and made a place to sleep at the edges of the crowded room.

"So, you think that our initiation tomorrow will be hard?" I asked Michal when we had gotten a place to sleep.

"This is Beacon, one of the best schools in all of the four kingdoms," he replied. "What do you think?"

"Crap," came my only reply. After a few seconds of silence, I asked "So, where you from?"

"I'm from Atlas. You?"

"Uh, I haven't really lived in one place for a long enough time to call anywhere my home, but my family lives in Vale right now." After a few more seconds, I spoke up again. "What's it like in Atlas?"

He rolled over to face me. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. I have never been to Atlas."

"You said you have lived in the four kingdoms!"

"No, I said that I have moved around a lot, and I haven't lived in one place long enough to call it home. I have been to the other three kingdoms, though."

"Wow. Leaving out my home. What is your family, against Atlas?"

I smiled at his comment. "No, you weirdo. We just haven't had enough money to go to Atlas."

He rolled back onto his...back...and looked back at the ceiling. "Just like you'd expect. The cities are big, the technology's kinda advanced, the people are weird. Then there's me."

We stood on the edge of the cliff near Beacon, fully armored, fully weaponized, ready for anything that could come at us. Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were in front of us, and Ozpin had just finished his little speech. Vomit Boy was at the end, and I guess he was scared because he kept asking about landing strategy. I wasn't really listening. I was too pumped-up for the launch that was about to happen. Three people had already gone flying off the cliff, and I was two people away from joining them. Vomit Boy was four people down the line from where I was, still asking his questions.

 _Woosh_. The next person went. One person left, and then it would be my turn.

I turned my head and looked down the line, and I realized something. Michal was two people down, and the attractive girl next to me in the locker room was right between Michal and Vomit Boy. Between me and Michal was another girl.

 _Woosh_. The person to my left went. I was next.

I started bouncing on the balls of my heels, ready to go, and a few seconds later, I too went _woosh_.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

watch?v=euuxPokAeIA

I'll admit, it was fun, being flung off a cliff. The wind blowing through my hair, the trees flying by beneath me at untold speeds, it was exhilarating.

My fun was short-lived, however. After a few moments of flying lessons, I remembered that I had to land. It took me all of three seconds to figure out my landing strategy.

I unsheathed Thunder & Lightning from the sheaths on my back. Pushing a hidden button on the hilt, and the swords started to transform. After a few moments, I placed what used to be Lightning on the front of Thunder, and I had in my hands the weapon I now referred to as Storm: a rocket launcher.

I opened up the back of the rocket launcher and took a big rectangular dust-mag from my belt and loaded it into the back.

As I neared the ground that would certainly kill me if I didn't have a strategy, I aimed the explosive weapon at the spot I would have landed on, and I fired.

The explosive that fired from my weapon sounded like a firecracker, and looked like the end of a sparkler. When it hit the ground, the shockwave that ensued slowed me down enough that I didn't break my legs, but it still hurt a little bit when I landed in the small crater I had created.

I quickly straightened after I landed, and did a quick sweep of the area to make sure no Grimm entered the clearing. Once I had confirmed that no evil animals had seen my landing, I removed the front end of Storm, and the two halves turned back into Thunder & Lightning.

I took a second to look at my two swords. They both had long blades, three feet long each. The back edge was longer than the front, and the top edge was at a slant. the hilt-guard was blue, and the handles had light-brown wraps, almost tan. The only difference between the two swords was the design on the blade. On Thunder, there were curved lines, like ripples, starting at the tip and continuing down until the middle of the blade. Lightning had a zigzag line, also coming down from the tip and stopping at the middle of the blade.

Sheathing both swords, I took off at a run, heading towards the place I thought the artifacts were. After about fifteen minutes, I had to rest. I found a rock to sit on.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling to my left. Having regained my strength and was just about to start running again, I slowly unsheathed Thunder, and gripped it with both hands, ready for the Grimm to jump out at me.

Lets just say, it wasn't close to a Grimm.

A girl came out of the bushes, and I almost took her head off. Thats just the kinda ladies man I am. She pulled a shotgun on me, and before she fired it, we both realized that neither of us were Grimm.

She had blonde hair tied in a ponytail, and she had brown eyes. Her light armor had a slight pink tint to it, and her shotgun had spikes on the top of it.

"So, I guess we're partners," she said. Her voice was a little high, but it sounded sweet. "I'm Lyla."

"I'm Pyro."

"Pyro?" she asked. "Is that a nick-name?"

"Yes."

"Nice. Lets go find the artifact." She started walking in the direction I had come from.

"Aren't the artifacts the other way?" I asked.

"No, the cliff we jumped off of is that way. The artifacts are this way."

I looked up and saw the cliff looming up in the sky. I was surprised that I hadn't seen that before. Immediately, I felt embarrassed for not having seen it before. Turning around, I followed Lyla in the other direction. After a few minutes, she suggested that we start running.

"It just feeling like we are going a little too slow," she explained.

"Sure. If you hadn't suggested that, I probably would have."

We started to run, but our fast moving pace soon attracted unwanted attention. We soon found ourselves surrounded by three Ursas. Two were normal sized, but one was bigger than the others, and I suspected him to be the leader. I unsheathed Thunder & Lightning, and Lyla took the shotgun off of her back, and cocked it with the confidence of years of practice.

"You ready?" she called.

"You kiddin? I should be worried that your shotgun won't be very effective."

"Trust me, you don't know how powerful Soundbreaker can be."

The lead Ursa charged, and I immediately lunged towards the beast. I swung my swords at it's head, but it did nothing, and the hulking bear-thing just swatted me away like I was a bothersome fly.

"' You kiddin?'" Lyla mimicked, currently firing into another Ursa. "I thought you had this."

"I've never fought one of the big ones before," I said, pushing the buttons on Thunder & Lightning, and creating Storm once more. Lyla took down her Ursa and went to face the other.

"Eat it," I said, pulling the trigger and holding it.

Oh, sorry, did I forget to admit that Storm is full-auto?

A three-round-burst of sparklers came out of the barrel of Storm, and all made contact with the lead Ursa. Within ten seconds, the thing was dead.

I turned Storm back into Thunder & Lightning, and turned to help Lyla with the last Ursa. Realizing she needed no help, I sheathed my Twins. She had turned Soundbreaker from a shotgun into a _macuahuitl_ , a bat-like weapon that had spikes going down each side. Some of her's was missing, like one on the very top, and some down the front side. In the place of the ones on the side was the pump-action thing and a mag.

She was swinging at the Ursa, driving back the hulking beast. Then, she did something that I did not expect. She pumped back the thing on her _macuahuitl_ , pointed the tip of her weapon on it, and I realized that the missing spike on the top was not an accident. There was a hole where the spike should have been, and she fired a spray of dust-powered shrapnel towards the Ursa. And with that, the monster bear was dead.

I made a low whistle. "That was amazing!" I complimented.

"Well, thanks," she smiled, turning her _macuahuitl_ back into a shotgun, and replacing it back onto her back. "I have had some practice."

" _Some_ practice?" I asked sceptically.

"Come on. Lets go find the relic."

We started running towards the temple again. After a few minutes, I stopped running. Lyla noticed my sudden pause in motion, and slowed down himself.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked, confused.

"Something's approaching," I said, drawing the Twins from their sheaths. "And it's coming fast."

Lyla took Soundbreaker off of her back, cocked it, and got ready for confrontation.

Suddenly, Michal came crashing through the bushes, with the attractive girl from the locker room.

"Pyro?" he asked, halting his run.

"Iris?" Lyla suddenly asked. "I didn't know you were going to Beacon."

"Less talk, more run," said the attractive girl said in a panicky voice.

Michal and Iris suddenly took off, and Lyla followed, though I was a little slow to follow. I figured that I could take whatever Grimm that had scared them. I was wrong.

They were running from the giant bird known as a Nevermore.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 5:**

watch?v=DrC_n5hUDKs

I ran as fast as I could to the temple, and for the first time, I could see what it really looked like. It was old and crumbling, with only the wooden floor, the back part of the circular wall, and come old stone pillars left. There were about twelve stone pedestals surrounding the middle of the floor. On the pedestals were what seemed to be chess figures. Half of them were black, half were gold, and there were three missing.

 _Seriously?_ I thought as I saw the 'relics', and went and did a highly sophisticated choosing game.

"Eeney, meeney, miney-" I counted, and moe turned out to be a black rook. I pocketed the game piece, turned around, and ran back to find my friends. Michal ran by me, making his own way it the temple.

"Found the relic," I said when I found Lyla, and I tossed it to her. Sadly, she never caught it.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. A Death Stalker, a giant scorpion, burrowed it's way out of the ground behind Lyla. It was bigger than any Death Stalker I had ever seen, and it was mad. It was running towards us, pincers snapping at us. The big stinger at the end of the tail looked like it could stab me right through somebody's chest.

I immediately grabbed the relic, shoved it in my pocket, and unsheathed the Twins, ready for a fight. I saw that Iris had her bow out, and she was rapidly firing at the Death Stalker. Pushing the button on the bottom of the hilts, I turned Thunder & Lightning into Storm, and started firing at the Death Stalker.

Then, something happened that I honestly didn't expect. This guy ran at the Death Stalker, flames trailing behind him, and he had a sword ready to fight with. The Death Stalker turned, but it was too late. The guy with the sword jabbed at the Death Stalker's eye, and the beast roared in pain.

Just then, I noticed that off to the right of the clearing, there was a King Taijitu, a huge snake with two heads. Like the Death Stalker, it was huge, probably the second biggest I have ever seen (I had seen three at that point).

"Guys!" I yelled, motioning over to the King Taijitu, I got Storm ready for battle. The King Taijitu started slithering over to us, heads fangs bared, ready to chomp. I pointed the barrel of Storm at the snake and unleashed a sparkling barrage of explosives. The others had the same idea, and they were firing as well.

Suddenly, from the side, there was a bright flash of light, and when I looked, the Death Stalker was gone. I turned my full attention back to the King Taijitu, and realized that it was slithering right to me. I guess it thought I was the biggest annoyance, and therefore should be taken out first.

I disconnected Thunder from Lightning, turning the Twins back into swords, I got ready to jump. It got close enough that I could have touched its nose, and then I jumped. The King Taijitu snapped at nothing but air, and I soared over the beast. I stuck my swords out and started to flip, but before I could get much spin on my flip, the Grimm slammed its head up, and I got knocked off balance. I dropped the Twins, (I'd beat myself up about it later), and fell to the ground.

"So much for that approach," I muttered under my breath, getting up from the fall. I looked up again, just in time for me to yell "Crap!" and jump out of the way before the King Taijitu snapped at me. I rolled along the ground, pulled out the bone handle knife I always keep with me, and attempted to defend myself.

The right head swung near, and I immediately stabbed my knife into the Grimm's nose. It pulled back, more annoyed than hurt, and it ripped the knife out of my grasp.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled, losing my final weapon, and got ready to jump again. I aimed right in between the heads, and sprang. When I got right in between the heads, I touched my fists together in a self fist-bump, and I unleashed my semblance: a shockwave that can be focused a little. The heads flew away from each other, and (quite disgustingly) they flew off of the body. The King Taijitu was dead, and the dead body flopped to the ground.

Me, Michal, Iris, and Lyla all stood on a stage, in front of the whole school. Professor Ozpin stood in front of us on the stage, and was currently announcing our team.

"Iris Nesher, Michal Nickel, Pyrosius Ammora, and Lyla Suntara," he started, "you have each chosen the Black Rook, making you Team IMPL (impail), lead by Iris Nesher!"

The crowd actually started to cheer, and I had to resist bowing for the crowd. You don't know how hard it was for me to resist.

Me, along with the newly formed Team IMPL, walked off the stage, and a few more teams went on. There was Team JGUR (jaguar), led by Janica Brown. Team CRNG (carnage), lead by Christian something, I didn't hear his last name. Team DUST, lead by Dexter Crimson. Team RWBY, lead by Ruby Rose. I kinda spaced out after that, and the next thing I knew, we were heading to our new dorms.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5:**

watch?v=DrC_n5hUDKs

I ran as fast as I could to the temple, and for the first time, I could see what it really looked like. It was old and crumbling, with only the wooden floor, the back part of the circular wall, and come old stone pillars left. There were about twelve stone pedestals surrounding the middle of the floor. On the pedestals were what seemed to be chess figures. Half of them were black, half were gold, and there were three missing.

 _Seriously?_ I thought as I saw the 'relics', and went and did a highly sophisticated choosing game.

"Eeney, meeney, miney-" I counted, and moe turned out to be a black rook. I pocketed the game piece, turned around, and ran back to find my friends. Michal ran by me, making his own way it the temple.

"Found the relic," I said when I found Lyla, and I tossed it to her. Sadly, she never caught it.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. A Death Stalker, a giant scorpion, burrowed it's way out of the ground behind Lyla. It was bigger than any Death Stalker I had ever seen, and it was mad. It was running towards us, pincers snapping at us. The big stinger at the end of the tail looked like it could stab me right through somebody's chest.

I immediately grabbed the relic, shoved it in my pocket, and unsheathed the Twins, ready for a fight. I saw that Iris had her bow out, and she was rapidly firing at the Death Stalker. Pushing the button on the bottom of the hilts, I turned Thunder & Lightning into Storm, and started firing at the Death Stalker.

Then, something happened that I honestly didn't expect. This guy ran at the Death Stalker, flames trailing behind him, and he had a sword ready to fight with. The Death Stalker turned, but it was too late. The guy with the sword jabbed at the Death Stalker's eye, and the beast roared in pain.

Just then, I noticed that off to the right of the clearing, there was a King Taijitu, a huge snake with two heads. Like the Death Stalker, it was huge, probably the second biggest I have ever seen (I had seen three at that point).

"Guys!" I yelled, motioning over to the King Taijitu, I got Storm ready for battle. The King Taijitu started slithering over to us, heads fangs bared, ready to chomp. I pointed the barrel of Storm at the snake and unleashed a sparkling barrage of explosives. The others had the same idea, and they were firing as well.

Suddenly, from the side, there was a bright flash of light, and when I looked, the Death Stalker was gone. I turned my full attention back to the King Taijitu, and realized that it was slithering right to me. I guess it thought I was the biggest annoyance, and therefore should be taken out first.

I disconnected Thunder from Lightning, turning the Twins back into swords, I got ready to jump. It got close enough that I could have touched its nose, and then I jumped. The King Taijitu snapped at nothing but air, and I soared over the beast. I stuck my swords out and started to flip, but before I could get much spin on my flip, the Grimm slammed its head up, and I got knocked off balance. I dropped the Twins, (I'd beat myself up about it later), and fell to the ground.

"So much for that approach," I muttered under my breath, getting up from the fall. I looked up again, just in time for me to yell "Crap!" and jump out of the way before the King Taijitu snapped at me. I rolled along the ground, pulled out the bone handle knife I always keep with me, and attempted to defend myself.

The right head swung near, and I immediately stabbed my knife into the Grimm's nose. It pulled back, more annoyed than hurt, and it ripped the knife out of my grasp.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled, losing my final weapon, and got ready to jump again. I aimed right in between the heads, and sprang. When I got right in between the heads, I touched my fists together in a self fist-bump, and I unleashed my semblance: a shockwave that can be focused a little. The heads flew away from each other, and (quite disgustingly) they flew off of the body. The King Taijitu was dead, and the dead body flopped to the ground.

Me, Michal, Iris, and Lyla all stood on a stage, in front of the whole school. Professor Ozpin stood in front of us on the stage, and was currently announcing our team.

"Iris Nesher, Michal Nickel, Pyrosius Ammora, and Lyla Suntara," he started, "you have each chosen the Black Rook, making you Team IMPL (impail), lead by Iris Nesher!"

The crowd actually started to cheer, and I had to resist bowing for the crowd. You don't know how hard it was for me to resist.

Me, along with the newly formed Team IMPL, walked off the stage, and a few more teams went on. There was Team JGUR (jaguar), led by Janica Brown. Team CRNG (carnage), lead by Christian something, I didn't hear his last name. Team DUST, lead by Dexter Crimson. Team RWBY, lead by Ruby Rose. I kinda spaced out after that, and the next thing I knew, we were heading to our new dorms.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6:**

watch?v=xmAsD8aRHBA

Our dorm was pretty small, but there was room for all four of us to sleep in. There was two windows on the wall, four beds, and enough space for our stuff. I found a small dresser by my bed and put my things in there. A few books, some pieces that I like to tinker with. I stored my clothes in a bag under my bed, and then layed down to rest.

I woke up to Michal shaking me.

"WAKE UP DUDE!"

"What?" I asked.

"I've been trying to wake you up for live five minutes!" he yelled. "We're gonna be late for our first class!"

"What?!" I sat up. Everybody else was in uniform and ready to go.

I hurried to the bathroom, changed into my uniform (still keeping the knife on it's sheath on my back) and ran back to the dorm to get my schedule. When I arrived, Iris was still there.

"Aren't you gonna be late for your class?" I asked.

"Maybe. We got our first class together, actually."

My heart skipped a beat. This attractive girl was going to be in the first class of the day I have?

"Cool," was all I could get out.

Our first class was with a guy named Professor Oobleck. He drank too much coffee, and from what I could tell, it was a history class, but I wasn't sure. He might have said it at one point, but he was speaking too fast for me to understand.

The next class I had included the entire team. The teacher was a guy with a guy with a big, grey moustache. Professor Port was his name. It was the Grimm Studies class. He talked for half the class about his 'personal; triumphs' (whatever those are), and the last half was us actually something good: one of us got to fight a Grimm.

Port sat there for a few seconds, asking if anybody would be brave enough to fight the Grimm. Then, he chose me.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Pyro," I responded.

"Pyro? Is that a nick-name?"

"Yes," I said for the millionth time ever.

"Come down here, Pyro, and fight the Grimm I have in this box."

I came down to the small ring inside in front of the bleachers, got on the opposite side of the ring from the box, and unsheathed the Twins.

"Are you ready?" asked Port, hand ready to unleash the kracken.

"Ready," I responded, bouncing on my feet, ready for a battle.

"Good." Port opened the box, and a Boarbatusk walked out of the box. Boarbatusks are basically wild bears turned Grimm. They have four eyes, two sets of tusks (two of the tusks are curved), and armor everywhere except for the underside.

It stopped walking and stared at me for about a second, and I stopped bouncing. I crouched down low, ready for an attack, and then the Boarbatusk did something I honestly did not expect. It jumped up in the air a little, rolled up into a ball, and started rolling towards me. I was so surprised by the attack that I almost forgot to attack. But by the time I remembered to do something, it was too late. The Boarbatusk rammed into my light-armor, and if I hadn't had that on, I would probably not be writing this fanfi- I mean, story. I dropped the Twins when I got rammed, and I tumbled into the wall behind me.

I jumped to the side just in time for the Boarbatusk to roll right past me. I scrambled to the other side of the small ring to put some distance between be and the piggy Grimm, staying crouched.

"Out of options, I see!" Port called from the side. "What will you do without your swords?"

"I'm not out of options yet," I called back, and drew out the bone-handle knife from it's hidden sheath. The Boarbatusk pawed at the wooden floor, and I made a motion for it to come at me. It rolled towards me (quite fast, I might add), and as it got close, I stepped to the side, stuck my knife out, and then, as suddenly as the beast had charged, it thudded to the ground behind me. I stood up, took my knife out of the Grimm's stomach, and replaced it in its sheath.

The whole class was stunned. To them, it might have seemed like a doof with a weird/cool name just one-shotted a Boarbatusk. To those who know me, it would seem like a skilled fighter who has never fought a Boarbatusk before. The latter would be right.

I retrieved the Twins, resheathed them, and said to Port, "Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7:**

watch?v=xmOZL_0rj70

The whole team sat down to eat lunch. The fourth class of the day had just passed. Apparently, the all of team IMPL (except for me, of course) was still impressed with my fighting skills, even if I did loose my swords in the beginning.

The lunch today was steak. I grabbed a tray, got my lunch, and made my way to my bench, team in tow. We all sat down, sitting (in order) me, Michal, Lyla, Iris. This random fact might not make sense now, but it will be important shortly.

I picked up my steak and took about five bites before I had to stop.

"HEY!" Michal shouted to a table a short distance from ours. "Nice ears!"

He was yelling at a faunus eating lunch. I recognized her from yesterday at the team-forming thing. She was in Team JGUR. Her name was Grace. She had brown-bear ears on top of her head.

Michal's outburst earned a few sniggers from the nearby tables. Lyla elbowed him.

"What?" he said defensively, as if he had said nothing wrong.

"Leave her alone," me and Iris said at the same time. We glanced at each other for a second, and then turned back to look at Michal.

"She's a faunus," he said, as if it were obvious.

"And?" Iris said. "You're human."

"Wait, are you a faunus?"

"No, I'm a human too."

Michal looked back down at his cooked steak. "Faunus are evil. They are all that make up the White Fang. They-"

"What do you know of the White Fang?" I defended. "All you have ever seen, all most people have ever seen, is news on the T.V."

"Are you part of the White Fang?"

"Two things. One: you said it yourself. Faunus are all that make up the White Fang. Do I look like a faunus to you? And two: why would a terrorist organization want with a sixteen-year-old kid?"

"Maybe your fighting skills."

"If I was so good that the White Fang came to me, I would turn them down, and I wouldn't be going to Beacon."

Michal went silent at that comment. Then he picked up his steak, opened his mouth as if he was about to eat it, then dropped it and picked up his tray, standing up.

"I'm not hungry," he said, walking away.

The two girls turned to look at me, as if I, the angel with the swords, had been the cause of his sudden absence. I was about to say "What?" but my mouth refused to pop back from the 'dropped' position. I pointed towards the door, and the girls' gaze followed. Then, their mouths dropped down too.

Dexter Crimson, the leader of Team DUST, walked into the cafeteria with three Razor Raptors.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8:**

watch?v=2SYSZ1Dw_pA

Razor Raptors are 3ft tall, and technically are wild life, but most people still consider them as Grimm. Some have quills, others have more of a bird or gator appearance such as feathers near the neck and elbows, and others still have gator like scales on the eyebrows and around the mouth. The have extremely good night and thermal vision. They are pack hunters, and follow an alpha. The have dark pink and light red tongues, bright white teeth and claws, and like all raptors, the inner claw on their feet is very large, and very sharp.

 _Why would the leader of Team DUST have a pack of Razor Raptors?_ I thought as Dexter ran over to the lunch line and grabbed a ton of steaks. He ran back to the Raptors and fed them the steak, leaving one for himself.

The Raptors all looked different. One was black and white, with a curved, sharp teeth-like pattern on its jaw line and the top of the head, and going down it's back. Another had black patches on it's green body, and had five quills coming out of the back of its head and neck in a straight line, four of which had black tips. The last Raptor was grey with burnt orange tiger stripes and more spike-like scales on its back and above the eyes.

"I'm gonna go and investigate," I said, and before the girls could utter a response, I was off with my platter of cooked meat.

As I neared, the three Razor Raptors all looked up from their steaks to look at me, and I quickly made a mental note of how fast I could reach my knife.

"Nice Raptors," I said as I came close to Dexter.

"Thanks," he said, looking up from his own steak. "I'm Dexter."

"I'm Pyro."

"What's with the head-band?"

"Why does everybody ask that?" I exclaimed. Calming down, I told him that "It's a secret."

Dexter started sniffing. It was just barely noticable, but I noticed it never the less, and I started to get worried.

"Uh, are you a faunus?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.

"No," he responded nonchalantly. "Why do you ask?"

"You just started sniffing, right after I said 'it's a secret'."

"No, I just, uh, thought I smelt dessert."

"What's for dessert then?"

"I must have been wrong."

Just then, one of the Raptors, the one with the quills, started sniffing too. It got within three feet of me and then started to growl at me. I backed away, but it kept its three-foot distance.

"Easy Qill," Dexter said, trying to sooth the Raptor. "Maybe he wants your steak."

I picked up the cooked meat from my plate and waved it in front of the Raptor now known as Quill, and when nothing happened, I threw the steak. It landed on the floor, and nothing happened still. I would have thought that Quill's friends would have gone for it, but they just stared at me.

"Dang it," I said.

"I know. Quill's never acted like this."

"No, not that. I wanted to eat that steak."

Just then, the door to the cafeteria opened up, and in walked Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9:**

watch?v=KdWCLT7kccY

"Dexter Crimson," Goodwitch demanded, "why do you have Grimm on school grounds?"

"Well," Dexter started, "they aren't really Grimm since they aren't trying to murder me, and they have aura-" he stopped, realizing he was mouthing off to Glynda Goodwitch.

"What are they doing here?" She asked, clearly frustrated.

"They are my pets, I guess."

"How do we know that you have control over these monsters?"

Professor Ozpin intervened after that, and Dexter was clearly relieved. "If he's been able to keep them from being noticed for a few days, I think that they listen to him. To prove that they do, I'll have Mr. Crimson and his pack go through three training exercises."

"Thank you, Professor," was all dexter said after that.

"The first will be tomorrow in Grimm studies," Ozpin said, "the next will be in Sparring class, and the last will be in the Emerald Forest, for the whole school to see."

And with that, Ozpin and Goodwitch left the cafeteria, and I left Dexter to think.

"What was that about?" Lyla whispered to me in our next hour, which was Sparring Class, taught by Glynda. She was currently giving a small speech about attacking, defending, and other things we would learn in the next four years.

"What do you mean?" I responded quietly.

"All that with the Raptors and Ozpin and Glynda. Right before they came in, it looked like one of the Raptors was about to attack you."

"Well, I-" I started, but I had to quickly stop because Goodwitch looked our way. She too paused, stared at us for about a second, and then went on with her lecture.

"We'll talk later," I said before Glynda could catch us talking. We both stared at the front of the room, ready to pay attention.

"And with that said, lets have two students come down here and show what they've learned. Any volunteers?" The room stayed silent, and the hands stayed down.

"Alright then. Lets have… Christian Young… and Pyrosius Ammora."

 _Dang it_ , I thought as I made my way down to the platform below the seats. I made my way to the left side of the ring, and Christian made his way to the right side. Now that I had a seen who he was, I realized that my opponent was the leader of Team CRNG. He had brown hair, large armor, and a large flamberge, a sword with a wavy blade, in his hands.

I unsheathed only one of my swords this time. With Thunder in my both hands, I prepared for battle, bouncing on my heels.

"You ready? I might take you down like that Boarbatusk did in Grimm Studies."

"Wait," I said, pausing my bouncing, "are you in my Grimm Studies class?"

"Ya. You didn't notice me?"

"Not really," I replied, returning to my bouncing.

Suddenly, Glynda spoke up from the side. "Enough banter. Christian, are you ready?"

The leader of Team CRNG nodded.

"Pyrosius, are you ready?"

"I'd rather you call me 'Pyro'," said the 'P' in IMPL. "But yes, I'm ready."

"Fight!"

Christian lunged at me, flamberge swinging wildly, and I managed to sidestep the attack. He turned, surprised that I had managed to dodge, and frankly, I was too. It came out of nowhere. We started sword fighting, and it was so loud you could probably hear it outside, we were striking so hard. The only reason I was hitting as hard as I was is because I tried to counter his force and stand my ground.

We soon got into a rhythm. I would attack, then he would attack, and back and forth we went. He tried a low sweep (that I narrowly dodged), then I made a lunge that he knocked aside. We probably went on fighting for five minutes before he knocked Thunder out of my hands, and then I unsheathed Lightning to use against my opponent. He charged at me with his sword held high, and brought it down hard. He started attacking with a renewed vigor. I was surprised at his strength, because of my own tiredness.

After two more minutes, Christian knocked Lightning out of my hand using brute strength, and much to my dismay, Glynda called off the match.

"What for?" I called out.

"You have no more weapons," she replied. "Christian has won the match."

"I'm not out of weapons," I said, unsheathing my knife from its hidden pouch.

"Alright then," Glynda said, surprised. "The match is back on. Begin!"

I turned just in time to avoid a swing at my head, and replied with a slash of my own. I felt contact, and Christian let out a soft gasp. His armor protected him, but I think he was just surprised about getting hit, especially because I have a knife and he has a sword.

I looked up, triumphant in my hit. The stab would have taken out at least half of his points. Then, my triumphant smile turned into a look of horror. In Christian's eyes was a look of surprise and horror.

But most of all, in his eyes was a look of rage, none the likes I have never seen before.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10:**

watch?v=Li58voy6xXM

"Oh crap," I muttered under my breath right before Christian started swinging with even more intensity. Ditching the idea of attacking altogether, I decided to instead go for a more defensive approach. I ducked, I jumped, I rolled. And yet, he showed no signs of relenting. He soon had me backed up in a corner that I hadn't seen from the seat in the bleachers.

"Out of room," Christian said.

I glanced to the side and saw Thunder a short distance away. "Seems that way," I replied, then jumped up and over Christian. "But, things aren't always as they seem," I said with a smile, picking up Thunder.

"You cheated," Christian uttered.

"It's not cheating if you use your natural strengths. Just be glad I haven't used my silence yet," I replied with a wink.

Christian charged with his flamberge swinging, and I easily dodged to the side. I don't know where I got the newfound confidence, but I used every bit I could get.

I brought my sword up to strike his, then punched him in the side, and he went flying. I looked up to the board where our aura levels were, and saw that I had depleted about half of his, and he had done the same to me.

I returned my gaze back to Christian, and saw that he was back on his feet.

"You'll pay for that," he said with malice dripping from his words.

"Do you want that in cash or check?" I said, bringing my sword up in front of me in a two handed grasp.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled, lunging at me.

If there was a doubt in my mind that he was mad before, it was gone as soon as those words left his mouth. He started hitting with a strength that rivaled the blows before, and it took all of the fighting skills I had to defend myself.

Then, it happened. I knocked his flamberge out of his hands, punched his chest, and did a spinning-kick to his chest, and he flew back about four feet.

"Pyrosius Ammora is the winner!" Glynda announced from the sides.

I almost collapsed from exhaustion. Walking over to Christian, I extended a hand to help him up. "Good fight. You almost had me beat."

He just glowered at me, pushed away my hand, and got up to go and get his sword.

 _Oh great._ I thought. _First day of school and I've already made an enemy._

I walked over to get Lightning, then sheathed both swords.

"You may take your seat, Pyro," Goodwitch replied from the side.

"I was just getting my swords," I defended, then walked up the stairs to retrieve my seat.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11:**

watch?v=InRN4vs-k1c

Me, Iris, and Lyla walked back to our dorm from dinner. Our last classes had been pretty boring. Suddenly, Lyla started talking about me.

"You should have seen him," she said to Iris. "He was amazing. The fight must have lasted ten minutes!"

"Really?" Iris asked, shocked. She looked over to me, as if I would offer any insight to if what she said was true or not. All I did was put my hands on my hips and give a little triumphant smile. Both girls started laughing, and I had to say, I felt a little happy.

"Did the fight really last ten minutes?" Iris questioned when she was done laughing.

"I don't know," I answered. "Probably. I was too busy trying not to get my head cut off or have him break my swords. He was hitting _so_ hard."

"He was," Lyla spoke up. "You could probably hear it halfway down the hall."

"Ya right," Iris scoffed.

"It's true!" I said. "He was so mad. I was like he was trying to kill me."

"Really?" Iris repeated, shocked. "How could you hold on?"

"I've had some practice," I said with a wink. About that time, we had reached our dorm. I held the door opened for the girls to walk in first. I heard Iris say, "Hi Michal," as she walked inside.

 _So that's where he went,_ I thought as I walked inside.

"Hey Michal," I said, closing the door.

"Pyro!" Michal said. "Just the guy I was waiting for. I've been meaning to ask you something, and I'd want the girls to hear this too."

My heart started pounding. Had he figure out what I think he did?

"What is it?" I asked nonchalantly, although there were little buzzers going off in my head.

"It started at lunch today, when I yelled at that faunus girl-"

Yep, he figured it out.

"-You guys all started defending her. But, you defended her more than anybody. Why would that be. Maybe you two are sisters. But then I thought: 'That can't be. You don't have bear ears. You're not a faunus. Or are you?"

"No, I'm not," I lied.

"You 's why you wear the headband. You have faunus ears."

"No, I'm not!"

"Then why do you have the headband?"

"I told you when we met: it's a secret."

"What's the secret?"

"No."

"What's the secret?"

"No!"

"What's the secret?"

"I'M A FAUNUS, OK!?" I yelled, tearing off the headband around my forehead, revealing a pair of black, pointed ears.

There was a brief silence where the girls stared at me in shock, and Michal had the smuggest look on his face.

"I told-" he started, but he stopped when I yelled at him.

"Shut up! I'm not finished." I threw my headband onto my bed. "I'm not an ordinary faunus. If you want to understand anything I do from here on out, you need to listen."

"These ears are wolf ears. But not just that. There...more than wolf ears-"

"Are you trying to say what I think you're saying?" Michal interrupted, almost laughing. I glared at him.

"Probably," I replied.

"What?" Lyla asked. "What is he saying?"

"I'm saying that I'm part Beowolf."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12:**

watch?v=O2soN-6rLw0

Michal started laughing. Hysterically.

"That's a good one," he said between fits of laughter. "You had them going there, but not me."

"Do you think I'm lying?" I asked, almost hurt that he didn't believe me.

"Do you think I was born yesterday? I'm not stupid," Michal replied, his laughter starting to subside.

"I'm telling the truth. Now, if Laughy over here would shut up, I'd like to get on with what I was going to tell you."

"My whole family is part Grimm. Me, my brother, and my father are part Beowolf. My mother is part Nevermore and has black bird wings. My sister is part King Tijitu and had slitted eyes, fangs, and a forked tongue. None of us have much of an aura."

"Me and my whole family have been rejected because of our Grimm-faunus heritage, even among other faunuses. In school, I was always the one who was bullied. Wedgies, being stuffed in a locker, being beat up, that was me. When I was young, I'd go to bed listening to people protesting, trying to get us to leave the house, and I'd wake up to them yelling at my window."

"Then one day, it went too far. This crazy dude broke into our house, then went for my brother. Dad tried to protect him, and then... he and my brother both got killed." I choked at that, and had to stop for a little. "He left me with a scar on my back." I said, turning around and lifting up my shirt so they could see it. It went from my right shoulder to left hip. "This was when I was ten." I said, letting my shirt fall back down.

"When I was 14, the White Fang realized I could fight. One day, a guy showed up at our house, saying that he could make the fighting and protesting go away. I signed up immediately, thinking that he was telling the truth. After a year of stealing and whatever job they had me do, nothing had changed. So, I left the White Fang.

"Michal, you remember when I said I had never stayed in the same place long? It's because of those protesters. For some reason, we had always stayed near this one forest. Our house was never more than two miles from it. I had always felt safer there. Nobody could hurt me there. If anybody tried to find me, I could just lose them. I was quiet, peaceful, the perfect place for somebody who wanted those things."

"Plus, I could connect with my roots there. I had found a pack of Beowolves. They accepted me like one of their own. My only real friends before I came to this school was in that pack. Now, I have to leave them for four years, and the only friends I have had that weren't Grimm probably don't even want to be near me."

"That's not true," Iris said, putting a comforting arm around me, and my heart skipped a beat.

"It's true for me," Michal spoke up. My gaze turned cold as I swept over him. "Faunuses are evil, all of them. That's why your dad got what he deserved. He died before he could-"

"Don't you _dare_ talk about my dad that way," I said, reaching for my sword.

"Whoa!" The girls yelled, reaching for my arm to stop it.

I glanced at Iris by my side, then put my arm down. I strode over to the door, opened it, and before I left, I said "Sorry kids, I guess you don't get to see my party trick."


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13:**

watch?v=rMfe306QFr4

I stormed down the hallway outside my door. Making my way towards the exit, I was frustrated to be stopped by Glynda Goodwitch.

"Where are you going at this hour, all dressed up in your armor?" she asked, clearly frustrated to be stopped by a boy of sixteen.

"To the forest," I said through my teeth, still frustrated at being stopped."What would a boy like you be doing in the forest at night?"

"I was goi-" I started, but a voice behind Glynda stopped me.

"Let him go," Ozpin said. Glynda turned to look at the headmaster, and I moved to look at him too.

"But he-"

"Let him go."

"Thank you Professor," I said before turning and running off into the woods.

I got to the cliff where we were flung off of just the day before. I knew that I would come here eventually, but I didn't think that it would be the first day of school. I also knew that my teammates would figure out that I'm part Grimm, I still didn't think it would be the first day.

I started bouncing again. I was about ten feet away from the edge of the cliff. After a few seconds, I started running. As I neared the edge, I leaped as far as I could, and sailed off the edge.

The thrill that came from launching myself off a cliff again came back. The trees flew by below, the black sky above, the stars shining down. I relished the moment, and for just a second, the anger almost vanished.

Then, like initiation, I remembered I needed to land somehow. I straightened my body and plunged into a dive, aiming for the forest floor. As I got about ten feet from dieing, I did the self-fist-bump again, creating a shock-wave that slowed my approach.

I hit the floor a little harder that I had expected, and made a mental note to learn how to focus the blast.

Unsheathing the Twins, I pointed the tips of the swords out and did a sweep of the area. Satisfied that no evil monster things were ready to eat me, I ran off, ready for a fight.

About midnight that night, I snuck back into my dorm. I found everybody fast asleep, so I took off my weapons, armor, and got into the clothes that I normally sleep in, and then slunk down into my bed to go to sleep, thus completing my first actual day at Beacon.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14:**

watch?v=0ycHYRg8h0Y

The next day, I was rudely woken up again, but I let it slide, because it was Iris.

"You gotta wake up earlier," she said. "You're gonna be late for your classes, and this is the last time I'm going to wake you up."

I felt a little deflated at that. I looked at a clock on the wall, and then got to my dresser and frantically searched for my school uniform, realizing it was even later than last time. _I'd give anything if I could change my semblance to superspeed_ I thought as I quickly ran over to the bathroom, changing into my uniform.

When I got back to the dorm to put my clothes back, I had realized that Iris hadn't waited for me, so I ran as fast as I could to Professor Oobleck's class. When I got there, the class had started, and even thought I had hoped to sneak into the classroom unnoticed, I closed the door a little harder than I had intended, and the fast-talking professor turned to look at the suddenly-slammed door.

"Ah, Mr. Ammora," he said, irritated at the pause in his lecture. "I was wondering when you would get here. I take it a rough journey would explain your tardiness?"

"Sorry Professor," I attempted. "I, uh, overslept."

"It must have been a boring journey then. Please, take your seat."

I silently made the boring journey that Oobleck was talking about to my desk, and then I would have slept my way through the next hour I was in class, but he kept calling on me.

The next class was better. I got to see some fighting, and then almost got called to do some myself.

Third and fourth hours were too boring to even mention, but I did hear some things about that guy from yesterday, Dexter, and his tests with his raptors.

Other than that, it would be good to just skip straight to lunch. I sat down to eat with everybody in my table except for Michal. I dug into my mash potatoes while the two girls besides me started talking.

Then, I saw something that would make me slam my tray down onto the table. Across the lunch room, Christian was sitting with a bunch of other people around him. They were talking, laughing, and pointing at _me_. _ME_. I was furious, and the reason was half formed in my mind. I stood up to go and confront the situation, and the girls stopped me.

"Where are you going?" Iris asked.

Saying nothing, I continued on my way to Christian's table, flaring. Whatever he was talking about wasn't good, but I was going to find out. The people around his table started laughing even more as they saw me approach.

"So," Christian started, "come back for more?"

"More of what?" I asked angrily.

"The beat-down I gave you yesterday in Mrs. Goodwitch's class," he said with a smirk.

My anger flared. So, he's been lying to everybody. I was not about to let this slide.

"So that's the lie you've been telling," I practically yelled.

"What do you mean? I beat you fair and square."

"One: nobody says 'fair and square' anymore, and two: you didn't beat me, I beat you."

"You think you can take me?"

"I know I can take you."

"Then why don't you try? Right here, right now."

I smiled at that. "Let's do it."

"One of your team-mates can reff," I said, pointing to one of the guys at Christian's side. I knew him from the team ceremony, the 'G' in CRNG. He was tall, with brown hair, glasses, and a little scar on his forehead. His name was Grant, I think.

"Do we even need a ref?" he complained. "This isn't class."

"I may have only known you for a day," I started, "but I know that when you're fighting, we need a ref."

"Fine," he said, squinting. "Grant, you can ref." So, I was right.

We gathered in the middle of the lunch room, and some of the students had moved a few of the tables away. Me and Christian faced each other in the middle of the ring, fists ready. Grant was standing off to the side, doing whatever a ref does in a dual like this.

"No weapons," he droned, "no hitting below the belt, no scratching, biting, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill. First one to yield, get on knocked on the ground, or get knocked out loses."

"No weapons?" Christian whined.

"Just shut up and fight," Grant replied.

Without another word, I aimed a punch at Christian's head, and he immediately spun around, almost falling on the ground.

"No fair!" Christian whined. "I wasn't ready!"

"Really? You didn't seem believe in fair in Sparring class. Put on your big-boy-diapers and come at me bro."

In Christian's eyes, I could see anger, anger to rival that from Sparring Class. But, before he could land a single punch, the door to the cafeteria opened.

"What is going on?" came the voice of Glynda Goodwitch.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15:**

watch?v=BQkGP6d6QSk

Christian and I sat in Professor Ozpin's office. He had pulled up two chairs in front of his desk just for us.

 _How special_ , I thought sarcastically.

"I can't believe you two," Ozpin started. "Pyro, I let you go last night to the forest without trouble, and this is how you repay me? You start a fight in the lunch-room?"

"Actually," I started, "Christian started it."

"I did not!" he whimpered from my side.

"You did too! You spread those rumors about the fight in-"

"Enough!" Ozpin yelled at us. I never knew that he could get this angry. "I don't care who started it. I just want to see you two in detention, this Saturday! Come to my office at 6:00am, and you will go to a detention room until 10:00am."

" _Four_ _hours_?!" Christian yelled.

"Do _not_ yell at me, especially in my own office," Ozpin cracked. "Dismissed."

"But-" Christian started again.

"I said _dismissed_."

And with that, we left Ozpin's office, and Christian couldn't have gotten out sooner.

That night, I sat in my dorm, talking with Iris about what had happened today. I would have talked with Michal, but we still weren't on speaking terms. I had just gotten to the part where Christian and I got detention for twelve hours, when a knock came on the door.

"I got it," I said, getting up to get the door. When I opened it, there was nobody there. Looking down, I found a newspaper lying on the ground.

"Huh," I said, opening the newspaper. "I didn't know this school had a newspaper."

"Neither did I," Iris called.

I closed the door and made it halfway to Iris to show her the paper before I stopped dead in my tracks.

On the front page of the newspaper, there was a picture of the man that killed my father and brother.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16:**

watch?v=2ikK5docONc

"What is it?" Iris asked, concerned that I had just stopped in my tracks. I didn't reply. I just stood there, frozen in my tracks, several different emotions boiling through my veins. Anger, sadness, just to name a few. If revenge was one, that I'd add that to the list.

That night, I made sure that everybody was asleep before I got up to do my work. I stealthily reached for a bag that I kept under my bed, and then I snuck out the window to call my locker. Once I had changed into my armor and had suited up, I put my sleeping-clothes, my headband, and everything else I wasn't going to wear back in my locker.

Then, I unzipped my bag, and for the first time since I had put it in there, I grabbed my Grimm-mask. I had it since I was in the White Fang, and I had modified it a little. Instead of the two or three slits that they normally see out of, there was one long red slit, along with the several red swirls and lines that is normally on the Grimm-mask.

Putting on the mask, I left school grounds to Vale, where the person who killed my father and brother is.

The next morning, I woke up without a clear conscience. The man was still out there, and I had come home empty handed.

I got dressed and started heading to my next class when Iris stopped me.

"We aren't going to our classes today," she said.

"We aren't?" I asked, confused.

"No. We're going out on a field trip."

"Where to?"

"I think we're going out to the Emerald Forest, but I'm not sure. All I know is you need your armor and weapons."

My head got a little clearer after that. I was going to go someplace during school hours that wasn't school _with_ all of my armor and weapons? Whatever this was, it was going to be fun.


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER 17:**

watch?v=y4nDDD7uMCg

Me, my team, and most of the other teens in my grade walked through the Emerald Forest, with Glynda leading the way.

"Yes, students," Glynda announced, stopping abruptly and turning to face the rest of the group, "the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

There was a group of five that left, and one of them was carrying a large box with six glass jars. I decided to ignore it, and went on with gathering my own jar of sap. As I was filling up the glass can, Lyla walked up to me.

"Hey," she called.

"Hey," I called back.

"So, are you almost done?"

"Ya, why?"

"You might need to go and fix some things with Michal."

My heart dropped. "Do I have to?"

"I would. Otherwise, it would make the next few years here at Beacon a little better, because otherwise you would end up sleeping in the same dorm as somebody who hates you."

I sighed, and then responded with "Fine, I might-"

"Might?"

"-might go and fix things up with Michal."

We just sat there staring each other until finally, Lyla walked away in a huff.

Chuckling, I turned back to gathering my sap, and but I paused when I heard a noise on the other side of the hill.

I quickly looked around to see if anybody else had heard it. Nobody did. I checked my bandana to make sure that it hadn't slipped, and that was what I had heard. Nope, it was still in place.

Going back to gathering my sap, it was a few more seconds before I heard it again, and I knew that I wasn't imagining things. I placed my jar on the ground, and then quickly snuck away from the tree to see what was wrong. As I reached the top of the hill, my jaw dropped.

On the other side, a small pack of Beowolves was being attacked by a large pack of Razor Raptors.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18:**

watch?v=u9NStVkSCuk

Looking behind me to make sure that I wasn't being followed, I vaulted over the hill. I ran towards the charging pack, simultaneously drawing Thunder with my right hand. When I got close enough that I could speak without the other classmates hearing me, I started taunting the Razor Raptors.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Over here!"

That seemed to have done it, because the Raptors focus immediately shifted to me.

I held Thunder with both hands, and quickly surveyed my new-found opponents. There was about fifteen Razor Raptors, and it was a good thing I had come along. There was only one Beowulf left of the original five, and it was currently running away. The rest of the Beowulves were already starting to dissolve.

 _At least I saved that one_ , I thought to myself.

Without warning, the Razor Raptors charged as one, and it was all I could do to keep up. Still, I incapacitated about three of the Raptors before Thunder was knocked out of my hands.

Quickly drawing Lightning, I started slicing with a renewed intensity, and five more fell.

 _Only seven Raptors left_ , I thought, trying to take down the rest.

One of the Raptors bit onto my sword and wrenched the last of the Twins out of my hands, and I was forced to fight seven Razor Raptors with nothing but a knife, but I had faced worse with less. I mean, look back to a few days ago when I faced the King Tijitu!

I started slicing and dicing with my knife as fast as I could. One of the Raptors left the main pack, and started moving towards a Beowulf that hadn't dissolved yet.

 _It's still alive!_ I thought as I flung my knife at the Raptor's head, killing it instantly, and forcing myself to use my semblance to take down the last of the Razor Raptors.

I ran over to the living Beowulf. Kneeling down, I quickly scanned it for injuries. Bites, cuts, broken bones, all leading up to a large cut down the chest.

 _It may be alive_ , I thought, _but it won't be for much longer is I don't do anything about it._

 _You're going to be OK_ , I told it in Black-tongue, the grunt-snarl language that the Beowulves use. Came up with the name myself.

 _You...you look like the two-legs_ , it weakly replied, _and yet you can talk like us. How is that so, two-legs?_ Two-legs is the name Beowulves call humans.

I tore off the bandana around my head, and I could feel it's surprize as it saw my ears.

 _How is this possible?_

 _There's no time. I have to get you help soon._

 _Don't bother_ , came a lazy reply. _I can feel my life slipping._

 _Don't talk like that!_ I tried, but I knew it was telling the truth.

 _I have one final request for you._

 _What is it? I'll do anything._

 _Take my son,_ _Feuer, and take care of him as you own._

I hadn't realized that there was another Beowulf alive, but now that I knew, I could hear some rustling to my side.

 _Only if you tell me your name,_ I replied. It may seem far-fetched, but Beowulves received names just like us.

 _Ulsiana_ , came a reply, and as soon as those words left, she gave a final shudder, and she died.

I laid the body down to dissolve, and then hurriedly made my way to the Beowulf that was still rustling. I could hear some whimpering, and from the sound of it, I could tell it was a pup.

I reached down to pick up Feuer and place him in my backpack, but before I did, I realized that he had a long cut on his back, just like mine.


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19:

watch?v=ZkwW9tdOV6Q

Feeling sympathetic towards Farkas, I realized that I had to bandage the cut before I put him in my backpack. I tore a strip of cloth off of my shirt (which was some-what clean after my grapple with the Razor Raptors) and tied it around Farkas' cut, then placed him in my pack with the words Please stay quiet in Black-tongue. I made my way over the hill as nonchalantly and inconspicuous as I could, but sadly, my actions did not go unnoticed.

"Where have you been?" Lyla asked angrily. "You still have to fill up your jar!"

"I, uh, had to use the bathroom," I lied.

Lyla just stared at me, probably wondering why I would come up with that excuse and what it was covering, but I guess she gave up trying, because she left with "Just fill up your jar" and a huff.

We got back to Beacon later that day. Somehow, I had managed to keep Farkas a secret, but I didn't know how much longer I could.

Since the jelly-trip took much of the day, we didn't have the rest of our classes. I pretty much just stayed in my dorm, sleeping, reading to Farkas, and talking to him. We was still too young to talk back to me, but I could tell he was listening. He seemed to be mostly scared. He was hurt, in a new place, with new people. But, I tried the best I could to help him feel at home.

Every time I could hear one of my teammates coming towards the door, I quickly jumped in my bed and pretended to be asleep, telling Farkas to stay quiet. He might have been young, but at least he could follow orders. One of the times I pretended to be asleep, though, I actually did what I was pretending to do.

Later that night, when everybody was asleep (including Farkas), I snuck out of my dorm to continue what I had done the night before. I donned my armor, put on my mask, and ran off to Vale.

I reached the rooftop of a recently closed dust-shop that I think was called the 'Dust to Dawn', and I waited for something to happen, listening to a small, portable radio that I had taken with me. I was listening for any news of the man's return, when I heard something behind me.

I tensed, but not that much. I didn't want whatever it was to know I knew it was there. As it got within a close range, I jumped up, unsheathed Thunder, and pointed it as the attacker's chest.

The attacker was about my height, with a heavily-armored chest. His hood was black with hints of orange. The mask was grey and a glowing orange visor. He had on a belt with a small cape coming off of it on his left.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "And why were you sneaking up on me?"

"You don't need to know that," he cracked. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where I heard it.

I scoffed at that. "Yes I do. You started sneaking up on me, and you better put your hand back before I cut it off." He had been sneaking his hand down to his side underneath his cape, where he probably had a small sword hidden.

He sat there, his mask looking at mine, when suddenly, he became nothing more than a blur as he ran around my sword and socked me at the face at an untold speed. I flew back a few feet and almost off the building before I caught myself, and when I looked up, I found that the masked man had his sword pointed at me.

"Seems our roles just reversed," he said, and I could hear the smile behind his mask.

"Seems that way," I repeated from the fight to days ago, grabbing the hidden knife and slicing up at his sword, knocking it out of the way while I jumped up and unsheathed Lightning, two weapons in each hand.

"But looks can be deceiving," I finished.

We stood there, facing each other for a moment, but then he blurred again. I was ready this time, and I dodged to the side and swiped at his feet, hitting armor on his legs and tripping him. He rolled a few times, then jumped back up and started making swipes of his own, which I blocked, but not without difficulty. Whoever this person was, he had skills to match my own. After about a minute of exchanged attacks, he knocked Lightning out of my hand, and I was forced to fight on with Vanguard (the knife), but I could easily handle him on my own.

After about two more minutes, I knocked his sword out of his hands and pointed Vanguard at the masked-man's throat.

"You fight well," I told him.

"Hey," came the familiar voice, "what did the fist say to the face?"

I knew it was a trap, I still wanted to know what the answer was. "I don't know. What?"

"SMACK!" he yelled, punching me in the face and making me drop Vanguard. I stumbled backwards and the masked-man started running forward, punching at normal speed, and it was all I could do to put my fists up to protect my face. He kept on punching until finally I could take no more and used my semblance to drive him away.

I bent over in pain, almost to the ground, coughing.

"Pyro?" came the familiar voice from my side.

"Please!" I yelled, scooting away and holding up a hand to shield myself. "Please don't!"

"Pyro, it's me!"

I looked up cautiously, and I saw that the masked-man had removed his mask, and suddenly I realized why the voice sounded familiar.

The masked-man was Dexter.


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER 20:**

watch?v=tz2dwc941QU &list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb&index=8

"Dexter?" I questioned, not sure if the masked-man had hit me too heard and I was seeing things.

"Ya, it's me," he smiled.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked him, confused.

"You have a...unique semblance."

I smiled at that, and Dex did too.

'So, I got a few questions," Dex started.

"I got a few for you, too," I replied.

"First off: what's with the Grimm-mask?"

"Well, I used to be in the White Fang, but I left for personal reasons."

"Second: what kind of ears are those?"

I had forgotten that I didn't have my bandana on. "They're, uh, Beowolf ears."

"Ya right. Really, what kind of ears are they?"

"I just told you, there Beowolf ears."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"So, now that I know your secret, you should know mine," he said, showing his hands, and suddenly claws came out. His eyes started to glow orange. I don't know how I figured it out, but I knew that Dexter was a gecko-faunus.

"So that's how you control the Raptors," I realized.

"Ya, that's how. Speaking of Razor Raptors, did you know that there were some close by during the jelly-trip?"

I started to worry, but I didn't want him to know. "How could you tell?"

"I could smell them," he smiled.

I decided to come clean and tell him what happened. "Ya, I knew that the Razor Raptors were there, mostly because I was...uh...fighting them."

"Why were you fighting them? They didn't interfere with us at all. They were just running by."

"They weren't running by. They were attacking a pack of Beowolves."

"Why would you want to save a couple of Beowolves?" Dexter asked angrily, obviously still confused, so I gestured to my ears.

"Oh, ya, right. So, did you save any?"

"One ran off while I was fighting the Raptors, and I saved a Beowolf pup, which I now have as a pet in my room!"

"Really? Does your team know?"

"Not even close. I keep hiding him, and everybody was asleep when I left, but I don't know if Farkas is awake and terrorizing my dorm."

"Farkas?" Dex questioned.

"Sorry, that's the name of the-" was all I got out before my radio started going off.

" _All units head down 3rd Street in pursuit of a white male, grey hair, small beard. About 6' 5", wanted for assault and robbery, murder, and burglary._ "

That was the exact description of the man who killed my father and brother.


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER 21:**

watch?v=HXEfoGLJ7fY &index=6&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb

Without finishing my sentence, I ran over to the radio to finish listening to what the police had to say, and then started making my way off of the roof and towards 3rd Street.

"What is it?" Dexter asked behind me.

"I need to get this guy," I answered, hurriedly making my way down and ignoring the temptation to jump.

"Why? Did he do something to you?"

"I'll tell you later. You wanna help me get him?"

"Let's do it," Dex said with a smile, putting on his mask.

"I'll race you," I said, putting my own mask on, "but no super-speed."

"You suck," was his only reply.

We ran through the streets, running to find the man, and when we reached 3rd Street, it was clear which way he went, that that he had gone through recently. Some people were knocked down, some people were staring in the direction he must have taken, and there were a few police that were running that way.

"Up the rooftops?" I asked.

"Up the rooftops," Dex asked, and we soon found a ladder that would take us there. We ran as fast as we could to reach the murderer and pass the police. The spaces between the rooftops weren't that large, and the ones that had allies between them weren't that hard to jump over with Dexter's superspeed.

The police were actually pretty slow. I don't know how they were able to keep running this far, they were so out of shape, and I don't know how they didn't know that they could never catch the man at this pace.

We easily passed them, and after about a minute, I could see the man, and my anger flared, old memories resurfacing.

The man was surprisingly fast, and even me and Dexter had a hard time keeping up with him. Well, I had a hard time keeping up. If Dexter could have used his super speed, the guy would have been apprehended by now, but I was slowing down Dex.

He turned down one of the side streets, and Dexter and I followed. As we turned and looked down, we couldn't find the man anywhere.

"Did you see where he went?" I asked Dexter.

"No," he replied. "Is there an alley that he could have gone down?"

"Maybe," I replied, astonished that I hadn't thought of that. If Dexter hadn't been here, I would have missed that, and the man would have gone free. Another reason to be glad Dexter was here.

"I see one," I said, finding an alley. The police wouldn't have gone down there to check.

"Let's check it out," Dexter said, and we hopped down to the floor. We started walking down the alley, me on the right and Decter on the left, sneaking along with our swords out. We heard footsteps behind us, and we both turned, our swords ready. It was just the police running by, and we quickly turned back and continued our hunt. After a few turns, we heard a voice call out from one of the corners.

"Turn around!" it called, thin and raspy. "Turn around before I blow your heads off!"

I could just make out the shadow of a man dead ahead. He was thin, and holding a small rifle. Although that was all I could make out, I knew without a doubt that this was the man.

"What are you waiting for?" the man called, interrupting my thoughts. "Do you _want_ me to blow your heads off?" he threatened.

"We just want to talk," I asked, snaking my hand to my back to unsheath Vanguard.

"Put your hand _back_ down, now."

While the man was focused on me, Dexter had used the chance to come up with a plan. He used his super speed to ran at the man, punch him in the face, and make his drop the gun that was trained on me.

The man had a plan too. He punched Dexter in the face with such force that he flew into the wall and dropped his sword.

I ran at the man, Thunder ready, I put it to the man's throat, but he punched me in the face, knocking me down. He picked up his sword and started running away faster than Dexter with superspeed, which I guess was his semblance.

I got back up with the awful realization that the man had just gotten away.


	22. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER 22:**

watch?v=0LNVOreafhk

"Well," I started, "I'm disappointed."

We had returned home that night empty handed. The man had gotten away, and the only thing we had to show for our hunt was a bunch of bruises, most of them from each other.

"Why?" Dexter asked tiredly.

"Well, the person who murdered my father and brother just got away."

"Oh, ya, right. Well, see ya later," Dexter responded, heading in the direction of his dorm.

"See ya," I responded, heading towards my dorm as well. As I got to the door, I suddenly became extremely tired.

 _Whoa_ , I thought. I had never felt like this before, but then again, I had never stayed up so late. At least, not in a long time.

Right before I opened the door, I heard a scream from inside, and I shoved open the door, drawing Thunder.

"What's wrong?" I practically screamed, and saw that Farkas had woken up, and so had Iris. When she saw me, she screamed too.

"What?" I asked right before I realized I still had my Grimm-mask on. I took it off, sheathed Thunder, and ran over to pick up my little Beowolf.

"Get it away from me!" she screamed, and Farkas buried his head in my shoulder.

"Calm down!" I consoled, running over to shut the door. I turned and was greeted by three faces instead of one. Iris' screaming had woken up the rest of the team. I was surprised the whole of Beacon.

"What is that?" Lyla demanded.

"Oh, his?" I said, holding my Beowolf up a little. "That's Farkas."

" _Why_ do you have him?!" Michal asked. I was a little surprised that he was talking to me again.

"I made a promise," I responded.

"To whom, his mother?" Michal asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes," I answered.

"Seriously?" Iris questioned, still a little shaken from when Farkas had woken her up. "You made a promise to a Beowolf?"

"Incase you haven't noticed, I'm part Beowolf, and you don't have a problem with me. And this was kind of a last wish thing, so just abandoning him would really wreck havoc on my conscience."

"Well, you can't keep him here," Lyla announced.

"Well, where am I gonna keep him, the dog-house? I mean, you wouldn't put _this_ outside, would you?" I asked, showing Farkas' face to the rest of the team.

"Yes!" the rest of the team said in unison.

"Well, were am I gonna put him?" I asked, feeling defeated and betrayed.

"Back in the forest where he belongs!" Michal answered.

"Please, can I keep him!" I pleaded. "I promised his mother!"

" _No_ ," Lyla said.

"I promise I'll take care of him!" I begged. "I'll walk him, I'll feed him, even I'll clean up after him! _Please!_ Just look at that face!"

After that, Lyla started to look uncertain about her choice. "I don't know, guys," she said.

"Seriously Lyla?" Iris questioned, shocked that her friend would take my side over hers.

"One down, two to go," I said, and for just a second, Iris smiled.

"You do know that thing almost killed me a few minutes ago," she said, only a trace of the smile left.

"Farkas is too young to know how to kill."

"I highly doubt that," Michal commented.

"Okay, you're lost," I said, turning to Iris. "We still got room on Team Farkas. What do you say?"

She started to look a little uncertain herself. "Well, maybe," she started.

"What?!" Michal yelled. "We can't even have a pet here at Beacon!"

"She's the team leader," I said, happy that this argument had gone my way.

Michal started opening and closing his mouth, like he was going to say something but deciding against it. Finally, he just said "Let's just go to bed. It's late, and we need to go to sleep."

And with that, I felt like a little kid who just got a puppy.


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER 23:**

watch?v=SqioRSYOWiY &list=PLVDscnsTWJ3jRtYK02gD3LbngyDIdbyv5

I woke up the next morning with Farkas licking my face.

 _Hey!_ I told him in Black-tongue. I normally talk to him that way so that I could get him used to it, like he was raised with it. Which he will be.

 _Quit that!_ I laughed, sitting up. _Lets take a look at that cut on your back_ , I said, unraveling the cloth I had put around his back. The cut looked much better than it had when I had first put the bandage on.

 _You're doing better_ , I told him. _Does it hurt?_

Farkas nodded his head a little. This was basically the best communication he could do right now, nodding and shaking his head.

 _It's okay. You'll feel better tomorrow._

I remembered I didn't have classes today, and I was happy for a second before I realized I had detention today. I got dressed (quite disappointed, I might add) and headed towards Ozpin's office for my four hour detention. If there was one thing I was being positive about, it was that I was positive that I was not looking forward to this.

As I walked in the doors, I found that I was the first one to show up. The clock on the wall read 5:56.

 _That's odd_ , I thought. _He should have been here by now._

"How nice of you to drop by," Ozpin called from behind his desk, drawing my attention to him.

"Oh," I started, "I thought I'd just stop by, say hi, and maybe hang out for four hours."

'Well," he replied, "this is certainly the place for that."

I walked over to the chair in front of Ozpin's desk, and after a few minutes, Christian still hadn't showed up. It wasn't until 10:15 that the door actually opened.

Turning around, I was about to ask Christian why he was so late, but it wasn't Christian. It was Goodwitch.

"I thought you had two people in detention today," she said when she saw that it was just me and Ozpin.

"I thought so too," Ozpin said. "But apparently, I was wrong."

Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose, like she was trying to keep a headache at bay. "What's his name?" she asked, a little frustrated.

"Christian Young," Ozpin replied.

"I'll go find him," Glynda responded, closing the door behind her.

After she had left, we sat in silence for a while, and I started to get fidgety. I wasn't used to just sitting for a long time doing nothing. Aparently, Ozpin noticed my restlessness.

"So, Pyrosius," he stared.

"Actually, I go by Pyro," I interrupted.

"So, Pyro, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, unsure of what he had in mind.

"Why did you get into that fight?"

Relieved, I told him that Christian had been spreading lies about the fight, and how how he had challenged me to a fight.

"So, what I'm hearing is that it isn't your fault that you're here right now, right?"

"Ya," was all I got out.

"I'm going to have to ask-" Ozpin started, but he was interrupted when Glynda Goodwitch opened the door, dragging Christian along by the ear, and it was all I could do to stifle a laugh. Christian just glared at me.

"I found him playing around in the courtyard," Goodwitch said.

"Just the person I wanted to see," Ozpin responded, and I could just see traces of a smile on his face.

Christian sauntered over to the chair next to me, sat down, and then folded his arms and looked (rather obviously) to the side and away from me. Glynda left, and as soon as she closed the door, the attention of the room's two other occupants shifted over to Christian.

"So," Ozpin started, "why are you here, Christian?"

"Because of that kid," Christian said, pointing at me.

"Oh? How so?"

"I was eating lunch, minding my own business, when _he_ came along and started spreading lies about him beating me during Sparring Class. Then, he challenged me to a fight, and he started to _insult_ me! I had to do something, and he's lucky Mrs. Goodwitch came in when she did, or else I would-"

"Enough!" I exploded. I couldn't take any more of his lies. "That is _not_ what happened!"

"Pyro, calm down!" Ozpin said. "I've heard enough to tell who is lying and who's telling the truth."

"Finally!" Christian replied. "Somebody is _finally_ on my side in this place!"

"I was talking about Pyro," Ozpin said matter-of-factly. "You may go," he said, turning to me.

Christian just sat there, mouth opened, and I started to get up. "Thanks, Professor Ozpin!" I called as I left, and when I closed the door, I could hear Christian yelling "Why do you always take _his_ side?!"


	24. Chapter 24

**CHAPTER 24:**

watch?v=2ikK5docONc &index=11&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb

After I left detention, I headed down to the cafeteria. On my way, everybody in the halls were giving me a look, like I was dangerous. It's true, but so is everybody else that goes to Beacon. But they were looking at me like I was going to hurt them. They were even making their way to get out of mine, staying as far away from me in the halls as they could. One time, I tried getting closed to one of the people who got away from me, and she screamed before running away.

 _What the heck?_ I thought before continuing to the cafeteria. It got worse there. The kids there were even worse, but her, I didn't have to wait in line for my food. I found where my team was sitting, and went to go and sit by them.

"Hey guys!" I called.

"Hey, Pyro!" Lyla called back.

"What is up with everybody?" I asked as I sat down.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"Everybody's been avoiding me."

"Maybe it's because they found out you've been lying to everybody," Michal piped up. I glared at him.

"Did you ask anybody why they're avoiding you?" Iris asked.

"I couldn't have even if I wanted to," I replied. "I tried getting near one of the people who were avoiding me, and she screamed and ran off."

"Dang," Lyla replied. "Whatever you did, it must have been bad."

"Ya, it must have been," Iris replied. "Do you have any idea what it is that you did?"

"Not a clue," I replied.

The girls turned back to their food (Michal's attention had never left his food; the one time he replied to what I had said, his eyes still never left his food), and I turned to mine. After a few minutes, Lyla spoke up again.

"Do you think somebody found out that you're a…?"

"I don't know," I replied, but that would make sense. In fact, that made more sense than any other explanation I had come up with before. "Maybe. Could one of you go and see why everybody's avoiding me?"

"I will," Iris responded, getting up and walking over to one of the people who were avoiding me.

After a few minutes, she returned, her face looking a little bit worried.

"So, what you figure out?" I asked, a little nervous myself.

"I'll...tell you when we get back to our dorm," she said, turning back to her food.

I closed the door to our dorm. Everybody was here after finishing lunch. Everybody was avoiding me (again) as we walked down to the dorm, and some people looked at the rest of my team with disgust, as if it was unthinkable for anybody to be hanging around me.

"So?" I asked Iris once the door was fully closed.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Iris asked me.

"I have to know, so whatever I'm doing, I can stop."

"OK," Iris started. "Here it goes. What we thought before was right: they are avoiding you because you're a Beowolf-faunus."

I stared at her for a few seconds, mouth wide opened, and them Michal piped up again from his position on his bed.

"I don't think you can stop doing that," he replied.


	25. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER 25:**

watch?v=bOpLs6qfYoI

"Is it just a rumor?" I asked Iris.

"I'm not sure," she replied. It was just me and her in the dorm. Michal had left (for who-knows-what), and Lyla had followed shortly after.

"Do you know who started it?"

"That I do know, but it is just a rumor."

"Who?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.

"I'm not sure, but the person I asked said that Christian started it."

I gaped at her for a moment, and then I ran over to the door, walked outside, and slammed it.

It was nightfall, and I stood on the cliff near Beacon for the third time since coming to here. I was in my full armor again, and I was standing several feet away from the edge again. I ran forward and flung myself off of the cliff into the darkness below. Again, I found falling from a great height at great speeds exhilarating, and I forgot to come up with a landing strategy, and by the time I remembered I needed one, it was too late to draw my swords. So, instead of using Storm, I pounded my fists together, and the shockwave slowed me down.

I landed in the small crater and unsheathed the Twins, pointing them in front of me, scanning the area for any Grimm. There were none, so I ran off towards where the temple was. I met some opposition on the way, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. A few Ursas, a Boarbatusk or two, I was fine. I was actually happy to release my anger through the death of others. Those others were demon animals, but still.

I got to the temple, and apparently, the word about a Grimm-slayer traveled pretty fast. There was a King Taijitu and a small pack of Ursas. This was a little more of a challenge, mostly because of the giant snake.

"So, that's how you wanna play," I muttered under my breath, combining the Twins into Storm.

"Come at me!" I yelled, firing a three-round-bursts at the pack of Ursas. I incapacitated three of them, leaving four demon-bears and a huge snake without a soul. The King Taijitu started slithering towards me, both heads rearing fangs. The black head moved closer than the other, and I fired three more explosives into it's mouth. It reared it's ugly head back, and the white head started inching back.

"Smart move," I commented, turning Storm back into Thunder and Lightning. Running forward, I jumped and slashed at the white head, giving it a large cut on the underside of it's head. The head started hissing, and it almost sounded like it was screaming. I turned the Twins back into Storm, and then started firing at the white head, and as it started to hiss again, I shifted Storm's barrel a little so that I was firing into the head's mouth. After only three short blasts, the head was killed, and all I had left was one snake and four bears.

Shifting Storm back into Thunder and Lightning, I ran at the lead Ursa as it charged at me. When I got within five feet of the beast, it stood on it's hind two legs, and before the demon-bear could even roar, I ran up it's front side like a wall, doing a backflip while simultaneously slashing at its chest with the Twins. When I landed, I slashed up at it's head, relieving the Ursa's shoulders of their burden. The other three Ursas came at me, and I quickly dispatched them as well.

There was a sudden hissing from behind, and I quickly swung Lightning behind me to drive off the giant Basilisk. I only cut its nose, but it was enough to drive it away for a little. When I swung at the King Taijitu, I had buried my sword a little deeper than I had intended, and Lightning was wrenched out of my grasp when it pulled back. Gripping Thunder tighter, I jumped up to start randomly slicing at it's head, which proved to be an effective tactic.

I fell back down to the ground and ran over to collect Lightning, and I almost dropped it when a voice called behind me.


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26:

watch?v=G5zdal1MKf0&index=7&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb

"Nice job," came the voice from behind me. I jumped up, nearly dropping Lightning. I fumbled with it for a while, then pointed the Twins at the person who startled me. It turned out to be just a girl (and a cute one at that), so I sheathed my swords.

"You scared the heck out of me!" I exclaimed.

"Ok, so a bunch of demon animals don't scare you, but a poor, defenseless girl will scare the 'heck' out of you," she said, mimicking the way I said 'heck'. It was a perfect imitation, so I would have guessed that was her semblance.

"Oh, I wouldn't say you're defenseless. You were out in the middle of the Emerald Forest. You have to have some way to defend yourself."

"Alright, you got me," she said, reaching her hands to her waist. She unsheathed a pair of dual knives, which she flourished proudly.

"That's it?" I asked, a little disappointed.

She started twirling them a little more, and they turned into a set of pistols.

"Better," I commented.

"Thank you," she said, turning them back into knives and re-sheathing them.

"So, what is your name?" I asked her.

"Katrina," she answered. "What's your's?"

"Pyro," I replied a little sheepishly.

"Pyro? Like the guy who creates explosions?"

"My real name is Pyrosius, but I'm not going to have people call me that."

"I see," she said, starting to walk around me. "So, what is a guy like you doing in the Emerald Forest, killing Grimm in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, lately, when I've been getting angry, or something happens, I come down here and blow off some steam."

"So that's what those explosive sounds were," she said with realization.

"Ya. So, what are you doing here?" I asked curiously.

"Just taking a walk," she replied.

"In the Emerald Forest? All alone? With hundreds of Grimm around?" I questioned, skeptical of what she had said.

"I came armed," she answered, gesturing to her knives. I gave her a doubtful look.

"OK, so I was blowing a bit of steam myself," she finally answered.

"You? Why would you need to blow some steam?"

"Let's just say, there are a few kids at school that exist only to make my life horrible."

"Really?" I asked, dumbfounded. I had only known her for about a minute, but I didn't think that she was the kind of person to be bullied. She seemed too calm.

"Ya."

"So, I guess we're in the same boat right now."

"You're being bullied?" Katrina replied, surprised. "By who?"

"Some jerk named Christian Young."

"Christian goes to Beacon?" The surprise was even more prominent in her voice.

"Ya, he does. You know him?"

"He went to my old school! I'm surprised he didn't follow me to Flare."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. Flare was the second best Huntsman school in Remnant.

"And why is that?"

"We're siblings," she said. I stared open mouthed.

"You two? Siblings? But you're so nice, and he's so…"

"Ya, I know."

There was a small silence, and then I spoke up.

"I know it's none of my business, but what did he do to make you come down here?"

I hesitated for a moment, then decided I could trust her. "He figured out a secret, a big one. I don't know how, but he found out, and he started telling everybody."

"What is it?"

I hesitated again, then I told her my story, starting with me being a Beowolf-faunus, to my father and brother dieing (leaving out the part about me joining the White Fang).

Katrina was silent for a moment, and I thought I saw a bit of sadness in her eyes.

"Are. . . are you OK?" She asked, concerned.

"Ya, I'm fine," I responded. "It was a few years ago, so I've gotten over it."

Katrina exhaled, and for I suddenly thought that something was wrong with her, too.

"Uh, are you OK?" I asked her.

"Ya," she responded, but she turned away from me to hide her tears. I put a comforting arm around her, and she stiffened for a moment, but then she relaxed.


	27. Chapter 27

**CHAPTER 27:**

watch?v=2ikK5docONc &index=11&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb

I ran through the streets of Vale, White-Fang mask on. Dexter had called me to help him on a vigilante mission. I was sad to leave Katrina, but she asked if I could meet her at the same place next week. Of course, I had said yes. The thought of meeting her again put a little smile on my face.

The smile disappeared as I saw Dexter slashing at the back of a girl with wings. we were at a warehouse at the docs. She winced a little, then flew off.

"Who was that?" I asked as I ran up to Dex.

"She's called the Dragon Knight," he explained. "She works for the White Fang, but Blake is one of her friends, and she's also down their in the warehouse, so…"

"Who's Blake?" I asked.

"Oh ya, that's right, you don't know her. She's part of Team RWBY."

"Oh, right," I replied, still not sure who she was, or why her name was a boy's name.

"Anyway," Dex said, ready to change the subject, "I think she's gone. There are some reinforcements coming in from that way," he pointed to the left, "and we need to stop them."

"Sounds like fun."

"That's just the way I roll."

We waited for a few minutes, talking, playing rock-paper-scissors, and whatever normal vigilantes of our age do. The reinforcements came, but they looked different than the reinforcements that I normally saw while I was in the White Fang. Whereas normally, they come in via a huge airship, the reinforcements today came in through a series of black cars.

"That's strange," I replied.

The driver of the lead car opened his door, then ran over to the passenger side and opened the door. A man wearing a white suit and black hair walked out, a silver katana at his side. Both hands were on the handle.

I let down me hood and aimed my Beowolf ears over at the car, and even though I could barely hear what was being said, I could still understand.

"...he said that the supplies were inside the warehouse," said a man that got out of the car from a door right behind the passenger seat.

"I know where the supplies are!" snapped the man in the white suit. His voice was very smooth, and oddly familiar. "That is why we are here!"

The other man started cowering and backing away. I thought he was going to cry.

"What are they saying?" Dexter asked in a hushed tone.

"The guy in the white apparently is the boss," I whispered back. "They're going to get some supplies inside of the warehouse."

"Then let's make sure they don't get them," Dexter said with a smile.

I smiled back, then put my hood on. We found a skylight that was unlocked, then we opened it and dropped in. Dexter landed smoothly, but I landed in a heap, my legs collapsing underneath me. Dexter helped me up, then we made our way around the warehouse to find the supplies that the man in white was looking for.

After wandering around the warehouse for about a minute, we found some crates in the back.

"Jackpot," I heard Dexter say from my side.

"How do we destroy it?" I asked, then a smooth voice spoke up from behind me, making me jump again that night.

"I think that would be a bad idea."


	28. Chapter 28

**CHAPTER 28:**

watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s &index=27&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gvaEKdifvsJTBwDAvmSBhb

Dexter and I turned around, and we saw the man in white standing about twenty feet behind us. He had an angry look on his face, and both hands were gripping his sword, which was still in its sheath, for which I was glad.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, and the man from the car walked up.

"Mr. Opal, who are you talking…" he started, but then he saw us.

"Mr. Opal, you've changed," I replied.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked, confused.

"You should," I said, letting my hood down, revealing my ears.

"Ahh, the Grimm Faunus," he said, remembering. "I thought I had seen the last of you all those years ago."

"I missed you too, buddy. So, what you got here?"

"Nothing concerning you. You should leave with your little buddy before things get messy."

"But I like getting messy," I responded sadly.

"Maybe I didn't say it clearly enough. Leave before I have to use my sword."

"You with one sword," Deter spoke up, "against us with three swords? That seems fair."

"You underestimate me," Mr. Opal stated coldly.

"You underestimate us," Dex answered matter-of-factly.

"Then prepare yourself," Mr. Opal replied, drawing his katana with one hand. He held it horizontal, but if he was holding it straight up-and-down then the blade would have been upside-down. I hesitated a little before drawing my own swords, knowing that stance was only used by professionals.

Then I remembered who had trained me to fight while I was in the White Fang, smiled, and turned my swords backwards too, and got into a fighting stance.

Dexter dashed forward, using his super-speed, and the only reaction that Mr. Opal gave was stepping to the side. An ordinary, untrained, first-year Beacon student would have shot straight past him, but Dexter was no ordinary, untrained, first-year Beacon student. When he had reached Mr. Opal, he stuck out his sword in an attempt at a slash, but the white-suited mob-boss just brought up his own sword to block, lashing out with a kick that sent Dexter sprawling.

I ran up behind Mr. Opal and tried to slash at his back while he was turned to Dex, but right as I reached him, he vanished, and I felt a kick to the back that resulted in me joining Dex on the floor, losing the Twins in the process. I had never seen Mr. Opal's semblance while I was in the White Fang, so his teleportation trick had completely surprised me.

"I expected more from you," he said, walking up to our prone forms. "You two have foiled more White Fang plots than I could ever care to count, and yet I took you down as if you were a pair of flies."

"That wasn't me," I replied, buying time for Mr. Opal to come closer. "That was him. I just tagged along for the ride."

"Ah, you were the friend who figured out that he was a vigilante, and you wanted to join the life, the fame, glory, all the fun that came with taking down villains, the friend who begged to tag along. And what did that get you? Getting kicked to the ground by a man in a tasteful suit." He was right on top of me, getting his sword ready to stab down on me chest. "Well, any last words?"

"Not today!" I exclaimed, pounding my fists together, sending the man is a tasteful suit flying away. I grabbed the Twins, sheathing them. Dexter was up before I could place Thunder in its place, and his sword was in his hand. As we left the warehouse, I could hear Mr. Opal cursing my name.

We left the warehouse that night, defeated and hurt.

We left the warehouse that night with a new enemy.


	29. Chapter 29

**CHAPTER 29:**

watch?v=0zhUgaxYs88 &list=PLVDscnsTWJ3jaIxYL8GAapQyEy_iujMxR&index=9

When I got back to Beacon, I found Farkas sleeping in the middle of my bed, and when I tried to get him up and move him, he started growling in his sleep, so I left him and slept around him awkwardly. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

I started my classes the next day hurt, tired, and not wanting to do anything but sleep. My team didn't know about my vigilante missions, so they were confused on my sleepiness. For all they knew, I had had a full night's sleep.

I was too tired to do anything in history, and Grimm Studies was just Port talking about himself again. Lunch was only me almost using my pizza as a pillow, and I was so glad Glynda was talking about sparring techniques instead of choosing people to sparr.

I ended the day with falling asleep as soon as school was over, Farkas curling up beside me.

I woke up the next day, and felt refreshed, but a little tired. The classes were no better than the day before, and even though I wasn't tired anymore, I almost fell asleep in Grimm Studies. Lunch was one of the worst I'd had. Everybody avoided me again, with just me, Michal, Lyla, and Iris sitting at the entire table.

Sparring Class was outside that day. Glynda chose to have us practice the techniques we had learned the day before with a partner, which was the person sitting next to us.

When I looked to my side, I saw that the person sitting next to me was Iris.

I was pretty happy.

We all chose a place to practice with our weapons. I didn't have a clue what was going on, and I had to ask Iris what most of the moves were.

"Were'nt you paying any attention in class yesterday?" she asked.

"To be honest, I was too busy trying to stay awake," I replied sheepishly.

She gave me a weird look, then showed me how to do the moves. I was a little happy to have this time with her, even if it was fighting. But I started to wonder what Katrina would think.

I went to my bedroom that night tired. Of people avoiding me. It had been going on for three days now, but yesterday, I had been too tired to notice.

Farkas was waiting patiently for me at the door. I petted his head, gave him some treats I had bought earlier that week, then sank to my bed. I was almost asleep when Lyla started shaking me.

"What is it?" I asked a little grumpily.

"Somebody's here to talk to you," she replied.

"Who is it?"

"You, uh, should probably come and see for yourself."

After placing a sleeping Farkas back on my bed, I walked over to the door to see who was waiting for me.

"Hey," Dexter said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, stepping out and closing the door.

"I was wondering if you were going out with me tonight." I gave him a weird look after that sentence.

"No no no!" he hurried. "Not like that!"

"I know what you mean, but it was still weird to hear that," I chuckled.

"So, are you going?"

"Sorry, no, I don't think so. I'm still tired from the last time we went, and my back still hurts from where Mr. Opal kicked me." I started rubbing my back.

"You OK?" he asked with concern.

"Ya. At least I wasn't the first person to get kicked," I said with a smile. Dex smiled back.

The next day, people were still avoiding me. I had decided I had had enough, and so I needed to get to the root of the problem.

Lunch time had come, and I had yet to find Christian. Lunch was almost over when I finally found him. He was gloating with his friends as always, and when I got close, his friends started to back away, unsure.

"Ah, the Grimm Faunus," he replied, and immediately I thought of Mr. Opal. I shook off the thought.

"Can I talk to you in private?" I asked, seething.

"Are you gonna attack me like you're brothers?" That earned a snigger from his companions.

"I am _not_ a Grimm faunus," I lied.

"Whatever you say," he replied, following me to a quieter place in the cafeteria, where I proceeded to punch him.

"What the _heck_ do you think you are doing, spreading out a secret like that?" I screamed at him as quietly as I could. "How did you even find out?"

"I have ways," he replied smugly, rubbing the part of his face where I had punched him.

"You better tell me your ways right now before I punch you again."

"And what makes you think I won't be able to stop you?" he asked confidently, and just to prove him wrong, I punched him again.

"Tell me now, and quit stalling!"

"OK, OK, OK!" Christian replied, suddenly scared. He started to transform right before my eyes, and in a few short seconds, he had turned into me. The transformation was impeccable. He had even gotten the clothes right.

"How do I look?" he asked, and even his voice sounded like mine.

I punched him again.

"Is that _all_ that you do?" he asked, holding his face.

"When have you turned into me?" I asked in frustration and fury.

"Like I'd tell you."

"Do you _want_ me to hit you again?"

"Is your self-esteem _that_ low? Would you resort to beating yourself up?"

"You have five seconds to start explaining why you've been impersonating me," I seethed.

"Or what? You'll start hitting me again?" Christian said smugly. Maybe a little too smugly. "One more punch, and I go straight to Ozpin."

I clenched my teeth in fury, and he knew he had something against me. Shifting back into his regular form, he gave another smirk, and then he turned and walked away, leaving me to my fury.


	30. Chapter 30

**CHAPTER 30:**

watch?v=GLQs0OrHiPY

I ran through the forest, Thunder in hand. The night around me helped the Grimm hide, but that was all right with me. I wasn't here for slaying.

I got to the meeting place, where Katrina had said to wait for me a week before. I didn't see her, so I decided to hide and scare her when she came. Looking around, I found a tree to hide behind, and right before I got behind it, the tree grew eyes, then part of the trunk _jumped_ out at me, and I'm pretty sure that back at Beacon, somebody heard a little girl screaming.

The trunk started laughing, and it shifted into Katrina. _Her semblance is the same as her brother's_ ,I thought. _Typical._

"You know," I started, "you are just like your brother."

"Hey," Katrina replied, "at least I'm not ruining your life."

"Tell me about it."

She smiled at me, and I had to smile back. She started laughing again. Hysterically laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You screamed like a girl," she replied between bouts of laughter. I smiled again.

"Are you done yet?" I asked. A minute had gone by, and her laughter was finally starting to subside.

"Yes… I think I am," she replied after a few seconds.

"Please don't tell anybody that I scream like a girl," I pleaded.

"No promises."

We sat for a while, talking, and then my Scroll started beeping.

"Dang," I said, seeing that Iris was the person calling me.

"Who is it?" Katrina asked.

'Somebody on my team," I replied, answering my call.

"Where are you?" Iris' voice came through the device.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes! It's like 11:30! Everybody's worried!"

"Everybody?" I asked skeptically. I found it hard to believe that Michal would be worried about me after everything that has happened.

"Just tell me where you are."

"I'm out in the forest," I replied reluctantly. Katrina sucked in a breath. I hoped Iris couldn't hear it through the Scroll.

"What was that?" Iris asked.

 _Crap,_ I thought.

"Shhhhh!" I said to Iris, and then slowly drew Thunder halfway, making it sound like I was going to go and investigate something. After a few seconds, I pushed it back into its sheath.

"It was just a bird in the bushes," I lied.

"Good," Iris replied, relieved. "Please come back, before the next animal is a Grimm." Iris hung up.

"Who was that?" Katrina asked.

"That was the leader of my team."

"You sure?"

"Who else would it be?"

"I just thought…" she started, then shook her head. Then she continued, "Nevermind, it's silly."

"What?" I pressed.

"I just thought that… she might have been your girlfriend."

I raced back through the night back to Beacon. I hadn't noticed before, but it was cold outside.

I made it back to my dorm without incident. Before I could open the door, Iris opened it.

"What were you thinking?!" she yelled as loud as she could without waking anybody up.

"I was-" I started.

"You shouldn't even be out there without a teacher!"

"But-"

"No buts!" That remark earned a snigger from Michal in the background, and a glare from Iris stopped it in its tracks. Suddenly, Iris looked drained. "Come inside," she said with a gesture.

I walked inside, and saw that Farkas had chewed up some of the books I had brought with me on my first day. I had read them all several times, so I didn't miss them.

"I heard Farkas rummaging through something," said Lyla, "and when I checked, you were gone."

"It's fine," I replied. "I don't need those books, anyway."

"He also went through your bag."

I sighed. "What did he chew up?"

"Oh, nothing," Michal spoke up. I was a little surprised. This was the first time he walked to me in a few days. "Just some clothes, some of those pieces you brought over, and, uh, this," Michal said, holding up my White Fang mask.


	31. Chapter 31

**CHAPTER 31:**

watch?v=rSmtHBMjXLU &index=9&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3jaIxYL8GAapQyEy_iujMxR

I just started, seeing that they had found one of the darker clues to my past.

"Why do you have that?" Iris asked, shocked. This might have been the first time she had seen that.

"Are you-" Lyla started.

" _No_." I interrupted before she could finish. "I will never go back to those… those _heathens_. I brought the mask to remind me of my past, to remind me to never do anything like what I did again."

"So," Michal started, "you haven't worn it recently, right?"

I hesitated.

" _Right_?"

"Pyro," Iris said, walking up to me, gripping my shoulders. "Are you a part of the White Fang?"

"No."

"Then why were you wearing that mask?"

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to start telling the truth.

"I've been going out at night, trying to find the guy who killed my parents."

"And you're using the White Fang to do so?" Iris asked, sounding a little hurt.

" _No_! I told you, I'm not going back to the White Fang, and I never will. It's just a mask."

"Is… is that why you were tired a few days ago?" Lyla questioned.

"Yes."

We sat in silence for a while.

"Please don't go out there again," Iris said, breaking the silence.

"I have to," I replied. "I can't let that maniac go around killing people, and I'm not going to let my dad's and brother's death go unchallenged. I have to go out there."

"Well," Michal said, starting to get up. "It's hard to argue with that."

Iris and Lyla glared at him, and he sat back down with a smirk.

"You can't go out there!" Lyla exclaimed suddenly. "What if you get hurt?! What if you never come back?! You're still so young! You have so many things to do, people to see! And Ir-" She suddenly stopped, then looked down and stepped back.

"You know, Lyla's right," Michal said, stepping back up. "If you get hurt, you won't be able to come back, and none of us will be able to help you."

I just sat there after that comment, staring at the floor, choosing not to acknowledge him. He was right, and I didn't want to admit it.

"I have to go out there. I'm not changing my mind, and none of you can change it."

"Fair," Michal said, sitting down.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Iris said.

"Neither do I," replied Lyla.

I gave a half smile. "Thanks," was the only response I gave.


	32. Chapter 32

**CHAPTER 32:**

watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s &list=PLVDscnsTWJ3jaIxYL8GAapQyEy_iujMxR

Dexter had sent me a message, telling me that he was heading over to the meeting place. I waited for the rest of my team to fall asleep before getting my armor on, even though they knew that I was a vigilante. Right before I snuck out the window, a voice called from behind.

"Pyro, please stay."

I turned to see that Iris was the one who had called. She was sitting halfway up in her bed, and she looked worried.

"I have to go," I answered. "I'll stay safe, I promise.

"Be careful."

"I will."

She laid back down, but she still faced the window.

"I promise," I said before I jumped out the window.

I met Dexter half an hour later at the meeting place. He had a motor-bike with him, and he had both swords, too. A second later, a girl with wings touched down. I was a little worried at first, but then I remembered this was the Dragon Knight.

"Something big is going down tonight," she warned. "Dex, are you sure you're healed well enough?"

"I'm fine," Dex replied. "Can you tell me what's going on, and did you get any info on Opal?"

"Wait, how long have you two been working together?" I asked "And what does she mean by 'healed enough'?"

"We've been working together for a while now, and you now how I asked you to join me a few nights ago?" Dexter asked.

"Yeah, ok, what's your point?"

"Well I got stabbed, by the guy who killed my dad."

"Why didn't you tell this?!" I asked, agitated.

"Because you seem to have a lot going on, so I didn't add on to that."

"Pardon me for interrupting, but if we want to get Opal, we are going to want to move, as this is time sensitive," The Dragon Knight told us. We left, going back to the docks, but to a different wearhouse. It stood with the rest of the surrounding warehouses, but unlike most of the others, it seemed unguarded. That was odd.

"I will keep watch," The Dragon Knight said, "Make sure you get this guy, ok?" She flew off to a higher vantage point.

"What's her name?" I asked Dexter.

"Ardent," he replied, opening the door.

We entered through the front. There were no guards, even though there was a huge stockpile.

 _This is not good_ , I thought.

Dex took off his mask, but he left his goggles on. He took a huge breath.

"Pyro, he's here," he said, putting his mask back on.

"I knew you couldn't resist how stylish my suit is!" Mr. Opal said, walking out from the darkness, gripping his sword. Thankfully, it was still in its sheath.

"And if it's alright, this time I brought a playmate, since you like messy," he continued, looking at me. "Komodo, please join us."

"Nice for you to have invited me!" said the man who must have been Komodo from the darkness. "After all, I owe Dexter a round or two… to either the head or the chest," he walked out into the light. He had red, orange, black and grey armor on. He had a Grimm mask on, and he wore the jaw bone of a Komodo dragon on the lower half of his face.

Dex unsheathed both of his swords, and I did likewise.

"Hey, how does he know your name?" I asked.

"That's the guy who killed my dad…" he replied, showing as little emotion as possible.

"So, let's get the show started," Komodo said, pulling out his swords. Mr. Opal replied by unsheathing his katana.

Everybody stood ready, until a drop of water hit the floor, and everybody charged each other, me on Opal, Dex on Komodo. After a few minutes of pure battle, Opal attacked with a strong punch to my face. I was only dazed, but Opal switched targets to Dexter. He was barely able to hold off both attacks at once, and soon one of his swords shattered. He managed to knock back Komodo, but Opal kicked him. I started sneaking up behind Opal, but Komodo noticed, and he intercepted me.

Mr. Opal sent Dex flying into a shipping crate, and he dented it. His armor was mostly destroyed, and he only had one sword left.

Komodo was tough. He kept driving me back, and he was almost too fast for me to keep up. I couldn't keep fighting like this for much longer. He smacked Lightning out of my hand, sending it stabbing into a crate.

Suddenly, I heard a loud _thunk_ , and then a wet, sickening sound.

"Your life is not mine to claim," I heard Opal say, walking over to me.

At the same time, Komodo turned to walk over to Dexter.

"You two made a mistake, coming over here again," Opal said, walking towards me menacingly. I pulled out Vanguard to throw it at Komodo, but Opal just smacked it out of my hand.

I heard two more sickening sounds, interrupted only by a _thunk_ that could only have been a kick.

"Oh, would you look at that," Opal said, turning to look at Dexter. "Your little friend died."

Angered, I lifted my sword over my head and attempted to bring it down on Opal's head, but he just brought his sword up to block it.

Suddenly, I saw something shift in behind Opal. It was dark, with two glowing things where it's eyes should have been. It moved into a creepy slouched position. It took me a moment to realize it was Dexter. He had extended his scales, but they had turned black. Opal turned to see what I was looking at. I would beat myself up for not striking.

"How the he-?" he started.

"Now there's the monster I wanted to see!" Komodo said, obviously excited. "How are you still alive? I stabbed your lungs. You should be dead!"

"I don't fear death," Dexter said. "I can't die…" His voice sounded different. It was strange, full of malice, full of murder. This wasn't Dexter. This was some monster, some thing he had shoved deep down inside, only to emerge tonight.

"Well Dexter, you-" Komodo started.

"Dexter's not here right now," Dex's other personality interrupted. "He's resting. You'll have to settle for me."

"And you are-?"

"Death," he said with a smile.

At that, Komodo pulled out a gun. He shot Retxd a few times in the mouth. (Dexter backwards. I'll be referring to Dexter's other personality as that from now on.) Retxd just spit out the bullets. He super speeded over to Komodo, and picked him up by the throat. When Opal tried to charge him, Retxd just threw Komodo at him. All I did was stare at him.

"Well, are you going to help?" Retxd asked, and I was too scared to do nothing.

"You got dirt on my suit!" Opal roared. "I already had a reason to kill you, but you just made things personal!"

"Dirt is the least of your worries!" I shouted back, both swords in hand. Opal charged me, and our blades collided many times, sparks flying.

I could see something glowing moving fast on the edge of my vision, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do now was take down Opal.

Suddenly, a sword flew right above Opal's head, just barely missing. We both paused our fight to look to the side, and saw that Komodo had one sword left.

Dexter punched Komodo hard, then the White Fang member pulled something out of his hand, pushed a button, then replaced it. He shoved Retxd hard, and he flew backwards several feet, then landed upright. Komodo ran forward, but right before he got to Retxd, he froze. The ground underneath his feet started glowing black, with an hourglass shape in the middle. He was flung into the air, and landed on his back. He didn't get up.

"I tried to warn him," Opal said, and I felt a sharp kick to the stomach.

A dark shape suddenly dropped from the ceiling. It landed on its feet. It seemed to have four arms. Two seemed to protrude from its back, ending in sharp points. The other two seemed normal, but held a sharp pole in each hand. It had a black hood on.

"I was wondering when you would join the party!" Opal welcomed.

"I'm just fashionably late," he replied. "I see one of you got my present, but I guess it wasn't the birthday boy," he said, gesturing to Komodo.

"Well Black Widow," Opal replied, "you certainly have great timing."

He barely finished before a flicker of bright blue and white electricity happened near Retxd. Komodo began to get up. Then an glowing blue and white electrical rift opened up.

"Looks like my guest of honor has arrived," Komodo tiredly said.

All of the sudden, a guy in white and glowing blue armor walking through, and stared at Retxd. He wore a half mask that was snake themed, which also had an eye patch going over his right eye. He had white hair and an electric blue eye. He was the same height as Retxd. His right arm had white and blue scales, which were very similar to Retxd's.

Retxd and the blue stranger glared at each other for a moment, then the stranger narrowed his eye. He slowly unsheathed a large, double bladed greatsword.

As soon as they flickered to life, someone smashed through a window on the ceiling. Once the figure stood up, it was obviously Ardent. She had her sword drawn, tip pointed at the stranger.

"I knew you were a traitor," he said to Ardent.

"Frostbite, it doesn't have to be this way. Please leave," Ardent pleaded.

"Sorry sis, but you're helping the enemy. Don't worry, I'll make your death quick."

"Rin, please…"

"So, you've been going behind your father's back? To work with Dexter?" Komodo asked Ardent.

"You may be my father, but you lost the right to call me your daughter a while ago!" Ardent exploded back.

Komodo's expression hardened into an aggravated look. He pointed his gun at her, and fired.

Right at that moment, Retxd shivered. He threw himself between Ardent and Komodo, and his flames burned white.

"I heard you were looking for me," Dexter replied. He was back.

"White flames…?" Komodo started, stunned.

Dexter's wounds were still black, and his claws were still extended. I noticed this right before he retracted them.

Frostbite pulled his blade apart into two ice picks, one had white sparks fly in off it, and the other had blue frost.

I turned just in time to duck right before a katana took off my head. Opal and Black Widow were both taking me on.

"Well this is hardly fair," I said, swords ready.

"Well, I'm hardly one for fair," Black Widow said, charging with his pikes ready. He swung at my head, but I ducked and shouldered him behind. Opal started attacking with his katana, which I smacked away with ease. He did, however, manage a slash at my arm, which hurt like the dickens.

Suddenly from behind, I heard a soft _thud_. I quickly turned to see that Dexter had caught Black Widow's pikes before they could impail my back.

"The itsy bitsy spider..." Dexter started picking Widow up and slamming him down. "Just hit the windshield!"

"I'm eighty percent sure that's not how it goes," I said, turning back to find Opal gone.

"Oh, I know it's not."

With a bright flash of lightning, the warehouse was empty besides my side. We were bruised, battered, and a little bloodied, but we were still alive, which probably counts for something. Nobody had the energy to walk to Beacon, so Dexter just drove us home on his motorcycle. I wrapped up my wound on the ride. As soon as I snuck into my dorm, I collapsed onto my bed, lucky that nobody was awake but me, and I soon fell asleep.


	33. Chapter 33

**CHAPTER 32:**

watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s

I woke up the next morning to find Iris shaking me awake again. She looked worried.

"The last thing I told you was to be careful!" she scolded gently.

It took me a moment to figure out what was going on. Apparently, I had fallen asleep before I changed into my pajamas. The only people left in the dorm were me and Iris. Farkas was curled up on my chest.

"What happened to you?" she said, shifting her gaze from my eyes to my wrist, where Opal had slashed me.

"Some guy slashed me with his sword," I admitted reluctantly.

She switched back to my eyes. "I don't want you to go back out there any more," she said softly.

"I have to," I started, but she interrupted before I could continue.

"No, Pyro, you don't. you were lucky to only to have been hit on the arm, but the next time it could be something more important. I don't want you going out there."

"I have to," I repeated. "I have to find the guy who killed my father-"

"So you can avenge your dead brother and father?" she interrupted again. "So you can be just like him?"

"So nobody else has to go through what I went through."

She sat silent for a little bit, then reached forward to hug me. I was surprised at first, then returned her hug with one of my own.

"Please stay safe," she whispered. She sounded like she was crying.

"I promise," I said, and for the first time, I wondered if I could keep that promise.

I couldn't concentrate on any of my classes that day. The pain in my arm started, and when my arm wasn't driving me nuts, I just couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the night before. We had made a few new enemies, all of them powerful. They had all shown that they were powerful enough to hurt us. I was especially afraid of Black Widow. His semblance must have been the trap that Komodo had fallen into. I'd hate to have been Komodo then.

I also couldn't stop thinking about what Iris had said that morning. or more accurately, what she hadn't said. I was sure that what she had said when she hugged me wasn't what she wanted to say. I thought about it, and eventually I felt something, something I've never really felt before…


	34. Chapter 34

**CHAPTER 33:**

watch?v=jNFgynmVmx0

First semester was finally over. I sat at lunch the day we came back, with Iris next to me, and Michal and Lyla across the table. I picked at my steak, thinking about the vigilante missions I had gone on over break.

"Hey, wolfboy!" I heard a voice call from behind me. It was too familiar, one that I had too much of lately.

I turned to see Christian and his cronies were heading my way. I immediately felt a headache start at the back of my head. I couldn't handle this today.

"What do you want?" I snapped at him.

"Just wanted to know when you were going to tell us that you have a little pet."

I felt Iris tense beside me.

"I do not have a pet," I lied.

"Yes, you do," he insisted. "I've heard it through the walls, and I've even seen it."

I stood up. "How'd you see it?"

He started to change, and in a few moments, he looked just like Michal. "You know, Lyla's right," he started, repeating what I thought Michal had said that night right before the semester ended. "If you go out there again-"

He never got to finish his sentence. In a flash, I flew across the room and punched him straight in the face. He immediately turned back into his old self, staggered back, and brought a hand up to his face.

"Pyro, don't!" I heard Iris call from behind. I didn't listen to her. Christian had invaded the one place I had felt safe, the one place I had any privacy.

Well, besides the bathroom.

"Aw," Christian taunted. "You hear your girlfriend? At least one of the people on your team has some brains."

"Maybe you could borrow some," I returned. "You certainly need it."

Christian lunged at me, eyes burning. I was too slow to react, and he tackled me to the ground. I felt a sudden burst of pain, and it took me a moment to realize that Christian was punching me. I lashed out a punch of my own, and it knocked him off.

I quickly got up and ran over to him, kicking him in the stomach a few times. I only meant to do it once or twice to make sure he would stay down, but it was quickly cut short. In Christian's place was Iris. I gasped. _I was kicking Iris!_

I hesitated for a second. Iris lashed out with a kick that sent me sprawling. It took me a second to realize that this wasn't Iris but Christian who was attacking me!

I felt a change above me. I sent a kick out at my attacker, knocking him down. I got up again, to notice that Christian had changed again. He now looked exactly like me!

"Really?" I asked, sick and tired of his tricks.

He lunged again, punching me in the face. I returned his attack with a punch of my own and backed away.

"'Is your self-esteem that low?'" I said, repeating what Christian had said the last time he had turned into me. "'Would you really resort to beating yourself up?'"

"Copy-cat," Christian retorted.

"Your one to talk."

We started to circle each other, cautious. We both lunged at the same time, grabbed each others shirts, and were about to start punching each other in the face when we heard a roaring voice behind us.

"STOP!" called the voice of Glynda Goodwitch.


	35. Chapter 35

**CHAPTER 35:**

watch?v=G5zdal1MKf0 &list=PLVDscnsTWJ3jaIxYL8GAapQyEy_iujMxR&index=7

"What on Remnant is going on?!" Glynda raged.

Christian immediately let go of my shirt, and I did the same. Well, he more threw my shirt away from him.

"I want to know what is going on right now, and which one of you two is the real Pyrosius."

"I am," me and Christian said in unison, and I glared at him angrily. Apparently, he had the same idea.

"Because he will receive two weeks detention..." Glynda said, as if she hadn't finished her sentence.

Christian immediately changed back into his normal look, standing away and pointing at me. "He is," Christian accused.

"And the imposter," Glynda finished, smiling.

"Dang," Christian whined.

Glynda, Christian, and I walked down the hallway to Ozpin's office. The only thing missing from this scene was Glynda dragging Christian and me by our ears.

Glynda burst through Ozpin's office. He looked up from some papers he was reading.

"I have been seeing too much of you two lately," he said, standing up. "And on the first day back from break. What did you do this time?"

"They were fighting in the cafeteria," Glynda said with distaste. "And Christian was impersonating Pyrosius."

"Glad to see you took the time to remember my name," Christian said, and his comment was followed by a smack of the back of the head from the Huntress. When I turned back, I thought I could see a small smile on Ozpin's face.

"What was the fight about?" Ozpin asked.

Glynda turned to us. Before I could reply with my side of the story (and much to my dismay), Christian spoke up.

"Pyro has a pet in his dorm!" he said, pointing to me.

" _This_ is what the fight was about? Pyro?" Ozpin replied, turning to me.

"That's not even close!" I exclaimed. "Christian came into our dorm during a private meeting, and impersonated Michal!"

"Christian?" Ozpin asked, turning to Christian.

"I, uh, might have done that once or twice," he said sheepishly.

"Wait," I said, taken aback. "You've come in several times?!"

Christian stayed silent, but started grinning. Ozpin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was having a headache.

All was silent for a moment, then Ozpin broke the silence.

"Is it true that you have a pet, Pyrosius?"

"I- I don't think that Christian has told us everything yet," I stammered, trying to divert the attention from me.

"Pyro?"

I stammered a moment more, then quit trying to avoid the question. "Yes," I finally answered.

"You do know that we have rules against pets, don't you?"

"I- I do."

"And you do realize that you have to give it back to your family, right?" I was pretty sure that Christian was enjoying every second of this.

I hesitated.

" _Right_?" Ozpin insisted.

"I, uh, don't think I'll be able to do that."

"Is it a wild animal?"

"I… guess you could say that."

"Is it…" Ozpin trailed off.

"Is it what?" Glynda asked, obviously confused.

"Is it Grimm?" Ozpin finished.

All eyes were turned to me. I hesitated a second more, then finally replied.

"Yes," I said quietly. "Yes it is.


	36. Chapter 36

**CHAPTER 36:**

watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s

Everybody stared at me. Even Christian started with contempt.

Glynda was especially enraged. "How dare you bring one of those vile creatures onto the grounds of this school!" she exclaimed in anger.

"You do realize that Professor Port brings those 'vile creatures' onto the grounds of this school each day, right?"

" _You_ have no room to talk in this situation!" she continued. "You have violated the promises you have made by bringing a Grimm onto this school! And a Beowolf none the less! Those are among the most vile and savage of all the-"

"If you want to hear my side of the story," I interrupted, "then you might want to kick Christian out for a moment."

" _How dare you interrupt_ -" Glynda started, but Ozpin cut her off.

"It's fine, Glynda," he reassured. "Christian, would you please step outside for a moment?"

Christian (who I'm sure was enjoying every moment of this) went from a look of pure enjoyment to a look of shock in about two seconds. He stood stammering for a moment, then hung his head and stepped outside glumly. I was like ninety-percent sure that he had his ear on the door for the rest of the conversation, though.

As soon as the door shut, I took off my bandana, revealing my night-black Beowolf ears.

"Those creatures that you call 'vile and savage' are a part of my heritage, you know," I said finally.

Glynda stood staring for a moment, then became even more enraged.

" _Do you expect me to believe a lie like that?!_ " she practically yelled. "That is the worst lie I have ever heard in my-"

"Glynda," Ozpin interrupted. "He's telling the truth."

 _This woman could not get through an entire sentence without being interrupted_ , I thought.

She stood dumbfounded for a moment, then opened her mouth (probably to say something like _He's fooled you, too?_ ), then turned around and stormed out.

All was silent for a moment, then an annoying voice came from the other side of the door.

"Can I come back in now?" Christian called.

"No," Ozpin replied, and I chuckled a little.

The headmaster turned back to me. "You do know that you still cannot keep your pet, right?"

"I'm sorry professor," I replied. "I can't give him up."

"And why is that?" he asked.

"I made a promise."

"Too…?"

I hesitated for a second. "His mother."

"What was the promise?"

"That I would protect him. His mother was killed by a pack of Razor Raptors." After that sentence, I immediately thought of Dexter's pack.

"So you took it upon yourself to raise the Beowolf."

"Kind of, ya."

Ozpin sat back in his chair, thoughtful.

"So, can I keep him?" I asked hopefully.

"Sadly, you can't," Ozpin answered after a moment. "If it was a normal dog, or even a regular wolf, I might have been able to let you keep it, but I cannot allow you to keep a Grimm. There are rules against this."

"You're the headmaster!" I tried. "Can't you let this one slide?"

"The rules are not mine. My hands are tied."

My heart sunk. I had to break my promise. There was no denying it.

"However, we can allow you to find a Beowolf pack for your little pet."

I felt a little better, but I still wasn't happy.


	37. Chapter 37

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

It has been so long since I posted a chapter! Now that school's out, I have time to add more to my stories. Hope you enjoy, and sorry to have kept you waiting!

 **CHAPTER 37:**

watch?v=qwJtbosKDB4 &index=16&list=PLVDscnsTWJ3gbqZOSz6aXluhwMwjP6NVD

Me, my team, Dexter, and Professor Ozpin gathered in the Emerald Forest to send off Farkas. His back was fully healed, and he was able to communicate better than he could two weeks ago. I could understand most of what he was saying now.

"You better hurry, Pyro," Ozpin said behind me. He had a cup of coffee in his hand. "The sun is about to set."

I turned to go and find a pack to release Farkas to.

"Wait!" called a voice behind me, right before I was about to take off.

I turned expecting Iris to be the one to call, but I was wrong. Dexter ran up to meet me.

"I wanna come to," he said.

I looked to Ozpin to make sure it was okay, and he nodded.

We took off into the forest. I carried Farkas in my arms, swords on my back. Dexter had one of his swords out.

"What are we looking for?" he asked.

"A Beowolf pack to introduce Farkas to," I replied after a moment.

Dexter stayed silent for a moment. "How do we know when we are near one?"

"Then you will see some Beowolves."

"I know, but-"

His reply was cut short. We soon found ourselves surrounded by a pack of Beowolves.

"Well," Dexter whispered to me, "that was easy."

 _Get ready,_ one of them said. _They bear weapons. Stay cautious._

 _We mean you know harm,_ I said, stepping forward.

 _He speaks!_ said another. A few of them took a step backwards.

 _Who are you?_ asked the alpha of the pack. He stepped forward. He was bigger than the rest, and heavily scarred. _How is it that you know our language?_

 _I am… like you,_ I said, removing my bandana and showing my Beowolf ears. _We come not to do harm, but to find a home for this pup,_ I replied, gesturing to the Beowolf pup in my arms. _His name is Farkas._

 _That name…_ he started. _It sounds familiar…_ _How did you come by him?_

 _I found his mother's pack. They were ambushed by a pack of Razor Raptors. Farkas was the only survivor. His mother's name was…_

 _Ulsiana,_ the alpha said.

 _Yes,_ I said, a little shocked. _How did you know?_

 _It is not my place to tell you that._

 _Then what is it your place to tell?_

 _It is my place to tell you that you are not allowed to be here._

"What's going on?" Dexter whispered at my side.

"Nothing bad," I replied.

 _You can leave the pup with us,_ the alpha continued.

 _Could I get a little time to say goodbye?_ I asked, hopeful.

 _Very well,_ the alpha said after what seemed like an eternity. _You may have some time._

"You stay here," I told Dexter, leaving him with the pack for a few moments.

"Wait!" Dexter called before I could get too far. "Where are you going?"

"To say goodbye," I called back.

"But you can't leave me alone with them!" he complained.

"You'll be fine!"

* * *

I made my way over to a quiet area, and set down Farkas. He looked up at me with big eyes. I started to regret coming here. How could I just leave him here with a pack of vicious killers? How could I just do that to this little pup?

I shook my head. I had to do this. Besides, he would have grown up in a group like this anyway. Still, I didn't think it was right. He had practically grown up with me.

 _Farkas? Can you hear me?_

The pup nodded his consent.

 _I'm- I'm going to have to let you go._

He tilted his head to one side, a little confused.

 _There's a pack that will take you in. They'll be able to take care of you better than I ever could._

Farkas kept his head tilted to the side for a moment longer, then straightened up like he finally understood. He gave me a look that said _Do I have to go?_

 _You have to,_ I said. _I don't want you to go, but there are some people that are scared of you. I've tried, but they won't let you stay. I'm- I'm sorry._

Farkas suddenly ran forward, so suddenly it scared me. He lept onto my chest, and for a moment I thought he was going to attack me. But instead, he just curled up and started whimpering.

 _He's scared_ , I thought to myself.

 _Don't worry,_ I tried to reassure, _I'm scared too._

* * *

I walked back to the pack of Beowolves, Farkas at my side. He had his head down, and his tail was between his legs.

 _Have you finished?_ the alpha asked without emotion.

 _I have,_ I replied somberly.

 _Then you may give the pup to us._

I looked to Farkas, who still had his tail between his legs. He had started to move behind my legs, as if he was scared of the pack in front of him, scared of leaving behind the world he had grown accustomed to, the world he thought was his home.

 _Come on, you'll be fine,_ I said, trying to coerce him to leaving. He shook his head.

"What's happening?" Dexter asked.

I ignored him, avoiding anything that would distract me from the task at hand.

 _It's fine, Farkas,_ I said. _You'll be alright._

 _Hurry up,_ the alpha said impatiently.

 _I'm trying,_ I replied. _He's scared._

 _If he won't come, then I will take him myself,_ the alpha answered angrily, moving forward to take Farkas.

I stepped forward, hindering the progress of the Grimm.

 _Step aside, human,_ said the alpha, bearing it's teeth.

 _I am as human as you are, now stand down._ I put my hand on Lightning, ready to draw as soon as I sensed danger.

 _You wish to give us the pup, now let me take him, or else I will be forced to swat you aside and take him._

"Dexter," I said, "get your sword ready."

Dexter drew his sword, looking a little uneasy. If we were going to have to fight this pack, it wasn't going to be easy. The alpha was just too big.

 _Do you really wish_ , the alpha said slowly, _to start this fight?_

 _I've felled bigger beasts than you,_ I replied. _You don't want to be in this fight._

The alpha snarled at that, and the rest of the beowolves charged. I set Farkas down, then drew Lightning and lunged at the alpha. We started clashing, me with my sword and him with his claws. It was an impressive fight, if I do say so myself.

After about two minutes, the alpha knocked Lightning out of my hand. I jumped backward, drawing Thunder as I went. When I landed, the alpha was ready for the fight, already in front of me. We kept slashing back and forth at each other, trying to knock our opponent off. Finally, I was able to knock him down onto his back, and as he tried to get up I put my sword to his neck, keeping him down.

 _Told you_ , I said to the alpha.

"Finish him," Dexter told me from the side. I was a little sad that he didn't use a deep voice when he said it.

"No," I replied firmly.

"Well why not?" he asked.

"I'm not going to kill him," was my only reply.

 _Now,_ I said to the alpha, ignoring the questions Dexter sent my way, _Will you let Farkas come of his own free will?_

That's _what this was about?_ the alpha asked, dumbfounded.

 _Yes, that's what this is about. You attacked me first._

 _Well,_ the alpha replied, _in that case, I might let him come when he's ready._

 _No maybe's. You will wait, or I will remove your head._

 _And then the rest of my pack would be on you in an instant._

The alpha was silent at that, and after a moment he spoke up again.

 _Very well,_ the alpha replied after a while. _He may come when he is ready._

 _That's all I ask._

I slowly got off the alpha, and he rose as well.

We left that night, one pet less.


	38. Chapter 38

**CHAPTER 38:**

watch?v=XZp3Mtn-YsI

I sat down in my usual spot, waiting on top of a roof for Dexter to show up for our vigilante mission tonight. I was set to not get as injured as I had the last time, and had all of my armor on.

Footsteps behind me. They were quiet. Nobody else would have noticed them, but I did. I slowly drew Vanguard from its sheath on my back, and waited for the person to make a move.

"Hey, Pyro," came a familiar voice from behind me. I whirled to find Ardent standing behind me, her wings folding behind her.

"Hey, Ardent," I replied, turning back to watch from the roof. I think it was a dust store. "Dust to…" I couldn't remember the rest of the name.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked, walking up to me. She stopped next to me, looking out over the city.

"Just watching," I replied, "and waiting for Dex." I thought she was standing just a little too close, so I took a small step to the side, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Oh, alright," she said, taking a small step closer to me.

 _Darn._ I thought. _She noticed._

"Aw, how cute," called a voice from behind us. I whirled again, only this time it wasn't a friend. Komodo stood with his arms folded, with Rin standing next to him. "The little couple is all alone. Should we give them some space?"

"Nah," Rin said from besides him. "I think they've got enough of it. It looks like Wolfy here's trying to get some more, though."

I growled at that, drawing the Twins from their sheaths on my back. " _Nobody_ calls me Wolfy." Beside me, Ardent drew her sword as well.

"Looks like you struck a nerve," Komodo replied. He drew his short-sword, walking forward. "I'm sorry I have to cut short tonight's festivities, but I have work I need to do, and you kids are getting in the way."

He ran forward, but I was ready and lunged at him, closing the gap and slashing with my swords in an "X." He blocked the strike, and followed up with a kick that nearly sent me off the roof. Ardent lunged forward, unfurling her wings to fly at him. I pulled out my scroll and called Dex.

"Dex, we ran into some trouble," I said once he picked up.

" _Who and where?_ " he asked.

"Komodo and Rin at the Dust to Dawn," I asked, remembering the name of the store we were on.

" _On my way_ ," he replied, then hung up.

I grabbed the Twins as I got up, rushing over to fight Rin.

"I'm trying to help," he whispered to me as I reached him.

"What?" I asked, not entirely sure what he meant.

"Just trust me and wait."

"Why should I trust you? You're working with Komodo."

"Just wait."

"Ah," Komodo said suddenly, "and the dark soul returns."

"I will kill you!" cried a strange voice, farther off than Komodo was. I turned to look of where it came from, and saw Dexter. He was covered in black scales and one of his eyes was glowing red. He was talking in a deep, demonic voice.

I immediately stood up straight, hung my arms down by my sides, and tilted my head in confusion.

 _What the-?_ I though.

"Sorry," Komodo replied in an equally deep and creepy voice, "but I enjoy having an Aspect of Death, so I'm not gonna give that power up easily." His skin was scaled over as well, with his eyes glowing orange and red from under his mask. "After all, it's a Crismon heritage."

' _Crismon heritage'?_ I thought. _Wait, does that mean Komodo is Dexter's-_

Something on Komodo's hand started flowing orange, and he reached over and grabbed Ardent by the throat.

"Time to clip your wings!" he yelled, then cut them off with his sword, and she screamed in pain.

"Put her down!" I yelled, charging at Komodo, Twins in hand.

Suddenly, Dexter ran in front of me, pushing back. "He's mine," he said. He sprinted over to Komodo, then shoved him away and brought Ardent over to me.

"Get her out of here," he ordered. I was about to run away when suddenly a rift open up above me, and suddenly I was in Beacon, holding Ardent.

"Wha- what happened?" she asked, her face twisted up in pain.

"I don't know," I replied, and it was true. "Dex showed up, then saved you. Then we just… left. Now we're at Beacon."

"Beacon?" she replied with hope.

"Yes. Why?"

"T-take me to the infirmary," she ordered in a weak voice.

"But why?" I asked, but I asked too soon. I suddenly felt the blood from her back on my hands.

"I'm h-hurt."

"Well no duh. What about our uniforms?" I asked.

"Wha- what about them?"

"I can't exactly walk up to the infirmary with a White Fang mask on."

"Then t-take it off."

"Oh ya," I said, removing my mask as I made my way over to the infirmary,


	39. Chapter 39

**CHAPTER 39:**

watch?v=CVJE9FcwJRY

The most eventful thing that happened between then and nightfall the next day was people wondering why I had showed up that night at the infirmary, in fully armored and weaponized, carrying a girl with bloody wing-stumps on her back, so I'll just skip that and go to the next night.

I snuck my way over to the window in my dorm, and right before I jumped out, a voice behind me stopped me in my tracks.

"You know I don't like you doing this at night." I turned and saw Iris sitting up in her bed to watch me leave.

"You know I have to do this," I replied.

"No you don't."

"We've had this conversation before."

"And I still don't want you going out there alone at night."

"I'm not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Dexter comes with me, and one of his friends."

"What friend?"

"I don't know how they met, but her name's Ardent," I answered. At 'her,' she straightened up a little more, but the move was so subtle I barely noticed it at the time.

"I don't want you to do this any more," she said with finality, like she had decided for me that I wouldn't go out again.

"I told you before, I have to," I defended.

"But what if you get-"

"Come with me."

She stared at me for a second. "What?"

"Just come with me," I replied. "You're always looking out for me while I'm out, and worried the whole time I'm gone, so this time you'll know when to be worried or not."

I smiled. "Get dressed, and get your weapons. We have to be there in-"

"But just this once. I'm only going to do it this one time."

"OK." I replied. "Suit up, and meet me outside the window in 10 minutes."

* * *

I met Dexter on the rooftops that night, Iris by my side. Rin was already there.

"Who's this?" Rin asked, folding his arms in contempt.

"This is Iris," said Iris.

"We don't need another girl on this team," he said, looking at Dex. "The last time one came with us, Wolfy here took her to the infirmary."

"Don't call me 'Wolfy'" I replied in a growl, with one forming at the back of my throat.

"Who was taken to the infirmary?" Iris asked.

"Dexter's friend."

"Well, I'm not going to go to the infirmary," Iris declared.

"You probably will," Rin argued.

"Obviously, you've never seen me fight."

"Obviously, you've never seen Ardent fight."

"You're about to see me fight," Iris replied angrily, walking forward and drawing her daggers as Rin came forward and drew his sword.

"WHOA!" Dexter replied, stepping in between the two. "Calm down! We're supposed to be fighting bad guys, not each other.

"Fine," Rin replied. "But I still don't like having another person on this team."

"Like we all agreed on adding you in," I said with my arms crossed.

"I helped you all get away from Komodo!"

"You were a little late with that," I replied.

"Who's Komodo?" Iris asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said a rapidly-angering Rin.

"I mean, if you had done something earlier, Ardent here would still have her wings."

"I saved your lives!"

"No, I saved Ardent's life by taking her to the infirmary. You were just the taxi."

"You wanna say that again?" said Rin in a quiet but threatening voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe you didn't hear me. I said: YOU WERE JUST A TAXI." I

yelled.

"That's it!" Rin said, drawing his sword and came at me as I drew the Twins and came at him.

"STOP IT!" Dex yelled, super speeding between us. "You guys are acting like 5-year-olds!"

"Not my fault Wolfy here started it," Rin accused, sheathing his sword.

"I'm out," I replied, sheathing the Twins and heading for the edge of the building.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dex said, astonished. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm not doing this with him tonight. I'm leaving, and anybody who wants to go with me can join me."

Nobody seemed to want to come. Not even Iris, and I'll admit, that stung a little.

"Fine," I said. "But if you guys need me, don't come crawling back to me."

I walked to the edge of the building. After looking down, I turned around, saluted, and tipped backwards.

"WAIT!" Iris yelled as everybody gasped.

Then suddenly, my wings unfolded, and I soared into the air, scooping Iris up in my arms and flying off into the night!

At least, that's how it went in my mind. What really happened was I just fell into a dumpster, then got out and ran off to find a place where I could find the person that killed my father.

* * *

I ran off until I got to the warehouse where we found Opal that night so long ago. I ran up to the doors, then quietly snuck inside. As I weaved between crates filled with objects both familiar and foreign, I heard voices deep inside the warehouse.

I headed towards the voices in the back, and soon I could make out what the voices were saying.

"What do you think he's going to do with these shipments?" said one voice.

"I dunno," slurred another. "Maybe he's gonna dump it in the ocean." That was followed by a loud _smack!_

"Quit being an idiot!" the first voice practically yelled. "I should report you to Opal for that!"

I stiffened. He was still here?

"He might just sell them to us."

"Do you mean us individually, or to the White Fang? Choose carefully, because I will smack you again."

After an answer from the second voice, I heard another _smack!_

"Quit standing around!" a familiar voice said. "Or I will report you to Opal!"

"Sorry Black Widow," the guards apologized in unison.

"Now, get back to work. You don't get paid to stand around and talk."

"Yes sir!" they replied.

Then, I heard another loud smack, followed by Black Widow's voice calling out: "That's for thinking you'd get the supplies."

I waited a few seconds, and right before I was about to jump out and attack them, I heard a voice behind me.

"What are you doing here?"


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40:

watch?v=jNFgynmVmx0

I nearly screamed, then nearly tripped turning around trying to pull out my swords. But instead of a sneaky White Fang member, or worse, Black Widow behind me, I was met by a friendly face.

"You almost gave me a heart-attack!" I whispered as loud as I could to Iris.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going home," she whispered back.

"No, I said I wasn't doing it with him," I replied. "I never said I was going home."

"Do you have any inclination to tell me what we're doing at a warehouse?"

"You're here because you followed me, but I'll tell you why I'm here once I take out these guards."

"What?" she replied, surprised, but I had already moved on.

I slowly drew Thunder from its sheath, then snuck around behind one of the guards.

"So, what do you think is in these crates?" he asked. He was the second voice.

"I don't know," the first replied, turning slightly. I hid in the shadows as he looked. "It's not our job to know that, just to guard them." He had a small scar on his cheek that ran down under his jaw.

"I'd still like to know what's in the crates."

"I can help you with that," I said, jumping out of the shadows and smacking him in the head with the handle of my sword. He immediately slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Hey!" was the only thing the other guard was able to say before I knocked him out, too.

I dragged both guards over to a nearby crate, and lifting the first guard I placed him inside.

"I did say I'd show him what was in the crates," I mumbled to myself as I placed the second guard inside the crate.

When Iris came out of hiding, we went on together, following the path Black Widow had taken. I quickly told her on the way everything that had gone on during the vigilante missions, mostly about Black Widow, Opal, and Komodo.

No sooner had I finished debriefing her we came to a large, open room. It was completely bare except for a few airships and some crates. Some of the White Fang were loading crates into one of the airships.

"Those look like warships," Iris whispered next to me.

"Why would they need warships?" I whispered back.

I shrugged, then turned back. I saw a small white figure move towards one of the airships.

"Who's that?" Iris asked.

"That's Mr. Opal," I told her, slipping into the hanger and hiding behind some of the crates. Iris moved with me, all the way to the airship they were moving crates into.

"You gotta stay here," I replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "You're not going to attack them, are you?"

"No, I'm just going to explore inside the airship, see what I can find out. My mask should help me if I get caught. They don't really check to see if you're a member or not, as long as you have a mask."

"You sure you'll be fine in there alone?" she asked.

"No I am not," I said, and before she could reply, I slipped into the line of White Fang pushing crates into the airship.

I'll admit, it looked a little weird with a long line of fully-uniformed White Fang members interrupted by a single person wearing armor and two swords strapped to his back. Even my mask was different. Luckily, the grunts were to stupid and Opal was too occupied to notice me entering the airship.

Once inside, I slipped away (again, nobody noticed), and made my way through the airship (rather blindly; I had never been in one before) towards the storage room. I took a detour because I didn't want anybody to notice me just yet.

When I (finally) found my way over to the storage room, I was greeted my two armed guards.

Not sure I can take them out without alerting everybody I'm here, I thought to myself. Let's see how gullible they are.

"Hey!" I yelled as loudly as I dared. The two guards turned to look at me.

"Who are you?" the closest one to me asked.

"I'm your replacement," I rep-lied (see what I did there?) as smoothly as I could. "You two are to go help load crates."

"Who sent you?"

"Mr. Opal did," I answered.

"You sure you can guard by yourself?"

"Mr. Opal sent me alone. What do you think?"

The guards looked at each other, then turned to leave.

"We'll check to see if he actually did send you," the second guard said.

"You don't want to do that," I discouraged.

"Why not?"

"He's in a bad mood."

Again, the two guards looked at each other, then left to go help with crates. Once they were gone, I slipped inside with a smile. The crates were packed together inside the dark room almost to the front, so I didn't have to move far to find one to open. When I did, I dropped the lid in shock.

The crates were filled with weapons.


	41. Chapter 41

**CHAPTER 41:**

watch?v=GFQYaoiIFh8

Rifles, pistols, swords, knives, axes, and more. What could they possibly need all those weapons for? I thought. I quickly grabbed a pistol, put the lid on the best I could in the dark light, and then slipped outside the doors. Once the next group of crate-pushers came, I bluffed enough to the two to make them be the new guards.

I quickly got back to the entrance of the airship, only to find that Opal was following the last crate-pusher in. His dark companion was with him, too.

"Close the hatch," Black Widow said to one of the guards at the entrance. Once they had passed, I had just enough time to run to the rapidly closing hatch and see Iris running towards the hatch too, waving her arms and shouting for the doors to stop.

The doors closed with a resounding bang, and after a few moments I could feel the airship taking off. I slumped against the hatch and slid down to a sitting position. How was I going to get out? Where was the ship going? How would I get back to Beacon? What would the teachers say when I get there several days late for class? What was Iris thinking? What was I thinking? And most importantly:

Why did Mr. Opal and/or the White Fang need all of those weapons?

I stood up. I needed to get off this airship. But the problem was how. I couldn't just blast a hole in the side of the ship with Storm for several reasons, the main ones being that everybody would be alerted to my presence before I got through, and it would crash and kill hundreds of people, on the ship and civilians.

Hijacking the airship was out of the question. Both Opal and Black Widow were most likely up in the front, and I'd have to get past the unknown amount of White Fang grunts on the ship.

Opening the hatch and jumping out was the most tempting and seemed the most practical, but what would I land on? The ship didn't take off in the direction of the ocean (I knew that much), and I couldn't use Storm/my semblance to stop myself like I did on that first day of school. We were too high up.

In despair, I sat down with a _thump_. They seemed to echo in the empty hallway. But they didn't stop.

That's odd, I thought. I got back up and started off down the hallway, but they only got quieter. I turned back around and went back to the hatch. They seemed to be coming from the door. No, not the door itself. From the _other side_ of the door.

"What the-?" I said to myself. Could somebody have been on the other side of the door?

I went quickly over to the keypad that operated the door, then after a few seconds I was able to figure out how to open it. What met my eyes stunned me.

"Hey Pyro," a smiling Iris yelled over the rush of the wind, standing calmly on the open door. I stood dumbfounded in the open entryway for a second or two before I found my words.

"How the heck did you get up here?" I yelled over the roar of the rushing air.

Iris' response was to unfurl two glowing purple wings from her back. "It's my semblance," she replied.

"You are the coolest girl ever," I replied, walking forward.

"I like to think so," she replied. "Now are we going to get out of here or what?"

I put my arms around her waist, and with a _wush_ barely louder than the moving air, her wings propelled us into the black night sky.

 _Bang!_ came a sound from the airship, and I felt a sharp sting in my back.

I cried out, and Iris did too when I let go. She dove down and picked me back up. When she started flying back off, I could see two small shapes inside the open hatch: one white, one black.

The black shape lifted something up to the air, and bright flashes issued forth from the tip, followed closely by more bangs. They all missed, but they were dangerously close. I wish I could have gotten Storm out, but in my position it was impossible, so I was only able to pull out the pistol I had stol- I mean borrowed - from the crate and fire blindly back.

As we flew out into the night, I saw the white stumble, and the black figure bent down to help him.


	42. Chapter 42

**CHAPTER 42:**

Iris layed me down on my bed with the rest of team IMPL gathered around me. Black Widow had hit me in the lower back, a little to the left of my spine. I wish I still had Farkas, he would have really helped right then.

"What happened?" Lyla asked, worried.

"Somebody shot him," Iris answered. Lyla gasped.

"Who?" Michal asked with suspicion.

"You wouldn't know him," I replied through clenched teeth.

"Try me."

"I don't really remember his name," Iris responded. "It was Turquoise or something."

"Opal," I grunted.

"Ya, there ya go."

"Does he wear a white suit and carry a sword?" Michal asked.

"Yes, he does," I said, forgetting the pain in my back for a moment. "How do you know him?"

Michal did nothing but stare at the floor for a moment, then turned around and said "I have to go." He walked out the door, closing it with a slam.

"What was that about?" Lyla asked.

"No idea," I said, the pain in my back returning.

"Pyro!" Iris yelled suddenly.

"What?! What is it?" I asked in a hurry.

"Your mask!"

I realized then that my face was indeed empty of it's normal vigilante attire.

"I must have dropped it when I let go of you."

"When you were flying?" Lyla asked.

"Yes," I replied. "How did you know about her semblance?"

"We've been friends for years. How could I have not known?"

It was at that moment that my Scroll went off. Iris went over to see who was calling me, and when she saw who it was, her face got a confused look.

"Pyro?"

"Ya?"

"Who's Katrina?"

Darn it! With all this business with Komodo and Opal and Black Widow, I had forgotten that I was supposed to meet her tonight!

"Just a friend," I replied.

"So you don't mind if I just it answer?"

"Not really," I rep-lied.

"Alright then," she said, pushing the answer button.

"Pyro!" came her voice from the speaker.

"Aw, jeez," I muttered.

"Are you blowing me off?!" she yelled.

"What does she mean, 'blowing you off?'" Iris asked angrily

"Hey, uh, you're on speaker!" I said.

"I don't care!" Katrina said. "You've blown me off for the past 3 weeks!"

"What does she mean, 'blowing you off?!'" Iris repeated again.

"Katrina, now isn't the best time, if we could just talk later-" I started.

"I'm not going to talk later! It's now, or never!" she yelled, then hung up.

"What does she mean, 'blowing you off!?'" Iris practically screamed.

"This night just keeps getting better and better," I said, half to myself.

"Answer me now, or I will leave this team!"

After a second of hesitation, I then proceeded to tell my crush how I went out to see another girl every week but the last few.

She was silent for a second (everybody was), then she spoke up.

"Pyrosius Ammora, I thought you were a good guy," she said, her voice cracking a little. "But it turns out, you're just like every other freaking guy I have ever met." She turned and ran out of the room, tears in her eyes. Lyla followed after, trying to console her friend.

And there I was, with half my family dead, every friend I had left hating me, my pet gone, and a huge, gaping hole in my back.


	43. Chapter 43

**CHAPTER 43:**

watch?v=y4nDDD7uMCg

I stumbled my way over to Dexter's dorm. The pain in my back was terrible, and nobody in my team was there to help me. Once I got there, I was greeted by Dex's partner, Thea.

"Hey Pyro," she said. "Dexter isn't here. It's a bit late, though, isn't it?"

"I-I don't have time," I stuttered. "I n-need help."

"What happened?" she asked.

I didn't say anything, just moved my hand from the wound on my back and showed her the blood on my hand.

She practically screamed when she saw the blood. She dragged me inside and laid me down on Dex's bed, where the rest of team DUST crowded around.

"What happened?!" "Are you alright?" "Does this have anything to do with Dex?"

"I-I'll explain it a-all once he comes b-back," I stuttered in response to their questions.

Dex's teammate Sam was able to patch me up enough so that I didn't bleed out, but she could do nothing about the pain. Once she was finished, Dex came inside the door. I guess he had planned super speeding in so as to not wake anybody up, but the sight of me on his bed with everybody crowded around made him stop in his tracks.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Hey buddy," I replied.

"What happened?" he asked again.

"I was, uh, shot."

"WHAT?!" everybody in the room screamed simultaneously.

"What do you mean you got shot?" Dex asked, and I told him all about my adventures in the airship and my encounter with Opal and Black Widow.

"What was in the crates?" he asked.

"See for yourself," I answered, pulling out the pistol I had 'borrowed' from the crate.

Everybody went silent for a moment, staring at the pistol that was inside the crate. It looked like a standard White Fang pistol.

"There were more," I said, "and not all of it was that size."

"What would they need that many weapons for?" Dexter asked.

"What do you think was going through my head while I was stuck on the airship?"

"This doesn't make any sense," Ulrich said. "Why would the White Fang need that many weapons?"

"Iris said that the airships were warships," I said, feeling a small pang when I mentioned Iris's name.

"What would they be preparing for war for?"

"I have no idea," Dexter replied, "but if they're preparing, I think we should getting ready, too."

Just at the moment, somebody knocked on the door. Sam walked over and opened it, and then in walked Michal.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I saw you walk this way," he said. "Thought you'd be here."

"That's not much of an answer," Dexter replied.

"I have some information you might need," Michal said.

"Whis is...?"

"Mr. Opal's my dad."

My jaw dropped. I stood staring at him for a few seconds before I snapped out of it, then said "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean, 'Mr. Opal's my dad?'"

"What do you think I mean?"

"Don't know why I asked."

"Neither do any of us," Thea said.

"But why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked Michal.

"It never came up. Where did you find him?"

"Down by the docks," Dex said "loading stuff up for the White Fang."

"The White Fang?" Michal asked, confused.

"Yes. Why?"

"He hates faunuses."

"Then why would he be working with the White Fang?" I asked.

"Maybe he's got a secret stash of soldiers, and he's gonna start attacking faunuses," Dex said.

"Who's got a stash of soldiers like that?" I asked.

"My dad," Michal answered.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. He used to be a military commander."

"What else should we know about him?"

"Well, he's the reason I hate faunuses."

"I didn't know you hated faunuses," Dex said.

"I didn't always hate them. When I was younger, had a best friend who was a faunus. Her name was Grace. "

"Sometimes, after my dad had come home from work, he'd see a bunch of crimes on tv, and every time he'd blame it on faunuses."

"One day while I was playing with Grace, my dad burst in, threw her out (almost literally), and slapped me for bringing a faunus into the house. He told me that faunus were evil, and blamed them for the crimes that were seen on tv. In time, I grew to hate them too, and thought that she friend was tricking him."

"Grace… Grace…" Ulrich started. "Where have I heard that name before? What was her last name?"

"Karhu. Grace Karhu."

"She goes here!"

Suddenly, Dex spoke up. "I have to go," he said, then ran towards the window and jumped out of it. Thea screamed while everybody else gasped, and I stumped towards the window. Looking out across the grass, I saw him running towards his raptor pens.


	44. Chapter 44

**CHAPTER 44:**

watch?v=kT0FTeF3pxE

After Dex run for the pens, I was too tired to do anything else, so I had Michal help me get back to my dorm, where we were greeted by Iris and Lyla.

"Where were you?" Iris asked angrily.

"Dex's apartment," Michal responded.

"Why were you over there?"

"Well," I replied, "I needed _somebody_ to fix the hole in my back, and I couldn't just go to the infirmary. They'd ask too many questions."

"I wish you had gone over there," Iris said in a barely audible mutter.

"It's late," Lyla said suddenly. "We should all be getting to bed."

"She's right," Michal replied, helping me over to my bed.

"Fine," Iris said. "But I want to sleep on _that_ side of the room." She pointed to the side opposite of me, and my heart dropped. I had really hurt her.

* * *

I woke up the next morning on time (surprisingly), and had just enough time to get ready for my first class. Since I had a huge hole in my back, it took a while, but I still wasn't late. It was kinda awkward sitting next to Iris, but I made it through the class without any angry words from her (mainly because she wasn't talking to me).

Grimm studies wasn't too bad. Lyla wasn't too mad at me, but she was on Iris' side, so she wasn't talking to me, either. Things were getting better between Michal and me, so that was good.

Luckily, we were just learning about Grimm today, so I didn't have the chance of being called on to fight Grimm.

The events of last night actually gave me another reason to not pay attention to Port's old stories. Why would Opal side with the White Fang if he hated faunuses? The only explanation that came to mind was that he was going to double-cross them.

But still, almost everybody I knew that worked with him were faunuses. Black Widow, his guards, everybody. Why? None of it made any sense.

When the bell rang for us to go to lunch, I almost missed it. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts.

Iris and Lyla got up immediately and left as fast as they could. Michal stayed behind, so at least I had somebody.

"Looks like your girlfriend left you," Christian sniggered.

"Shut up," Michal defended before I could say the same thing.

"I thought you hated him, too," Christian replied, surprised.

"Well, you thought wrong."

Christian just glared, then walked off. I could have sworn that I heard one of the people in his team say "I thought he was better than that."

Luckily, we didn't see him much at lunch. The only interesting thing that happened during lunch was Iris and Lyla didn't sit near us.

Sparring class had more luck. Again, I wasn't picked to practice sparring, which was nice. Lyla looked uncomfortable during the whole class (because she was sitting next to me).

So basically, the whole day just went by with nothing interesting happening (besides my crush avoiding me like the plague).


	45. Chapter 45

Two weeks after that, I woke up the next morning feeling better, better than I had in a long time. Again, I woke up on time (I was on a roll!), and the bullet-hole in my back was nothing more than a small scar.

Still, it was hard to concentrate during Oobleck's class. In a few weeks, all of the students would go out and shadow a huntsman or huntress for a few days. It was exciting just thinking about it, but I didn't think it would have been very fun staying out that long with just Michal and the huntsman/huntress to talk to.

The class ended as usual, while I headed (more like dreaded) to another class with a teacher that told boring stories and teammates that hated me. When I got there, I sat down in my seat next to Iris, who was still livid (like I was at fault). Looks like it was going to be another uncomfortable class for me.

Oh how naive I was.

"Today, class," Port said, "we're going to advance onto something a little more challenging."

Somebody raised their hand. "What Grimm are we going to be fighting?"

"That is going to be a surprise. Now, who would like to be the lucky winner who gets to fight this beast?"

Nobody raised their hands at that, so Port just chose a random person from the crowd.

"Pyro!" he called in a booming voice. "You've showed that you are more than worthy to face this beast on several occasions. Why not test yourself again?"

After a brief hesitation, I stood, rolling my shoulders, and cracking my neck "Sure," I began strolling down to the combat-area.

Staring up at a cage that had to be about twice as tall as I was, I squared myself and got into my battle stance, drawing Thunder and Lightening. Snarling and scratching came from the cage, I twirled my swords and bit my lip, "What do we got in these cages?"

"Today, you will face a Grimm that you have not yet faced," called Port from the sidelines. "It is savage, ferocious, and will not hesitate you rip you apart at the seams."

"My kind of party," I grinned, pumped up.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be."

"Then begin!" Port boomed, pulling the lever and releasing the Grimm trapped inside the cage.

The Grimm stood inside cautiously for a moment, then slowly stepped out, coming into the light for what might have been the first time. I was prepared to lunge out and slash at it before it could do anything, but instead all I did was slow my bouncing down. Once I stood still, I sheathed my swords.

Before me stood a Beowolf.

"Going to trick the beast, I see," called Port. "Excellent choice."

 _Suuuure_ , I thought.

The beast lunged at me, and I stepped to the side and jumped behind the Beowolf. Turning, I saw a sight that would freeze me in my tracks.

On the Beowolf's back was a long cut that stretched from its shoulder to about it's hip. A name came to mind, a name I had not heard in almost a month.

 _Farkas_.

He turned and I lunged. Before my former pet could take my head off, I sent a hand to his stomach, and he fell to the ground. He was not in pain, however. I was scratching his belly.

Everybody must have been in shock. First, I put my swords away, then I started _scratching_ the Beowolf's _belly_? The sight must have been strange. I didn't care. I was happy.

A crack filled the air. I covered my ears, then looked up. Port had his gun lowered, and was pointing it at Farkas. There was smoke coming out the end.

I looked down to Farkas. He thrashed about for a second, then stayed still.

 _He's dead._

The black figure that was Farkas' body was already starting to disintegrate.

 _He's dead._

There was a huge, gaping hole in his chest. Nothing was leaking out of it, and as I peered into it, I could see nothing but black.

 _He's dead_.

That thought was the only thing in my mind, the only thing to fill the sudden void that had taken shape there.

 _He. Is. Dead._

"I have no idea what that was," Port started behind me, "but I hope it never happens again. This should teach you a lesson."

Suddenly, I looked up from the corpse in front of me, up to the murderer who dared call himself my teacher. Hate started to fill me, and the only thing that was on my mind was revenge.

I stood up, walked over to Port, and took his weapon from him. Without even looking down, I broke the weapon over my knee, never once breaking eye-contact.

"How dare you!" he roared in both anger and shock, nearly punching me in the face. "That was my most prized possession!"

"So was that!" I roared back, pointing to the spot where Farkas was.

"What, that monster? It nearly killed you!"

"It was my pet!" I yelled. In the back of my mind I knew that there was a whole class of people who wouldn't understand and probably get the wrong idea, but I didn't care.

"How could you possibly hope to control a beowolf?!" Port exclaimed.

"Because I _am_ part beowolf!" I yelled back, ripping off the bandana and revealing my ears.


	46. Chapter 46

**Hey everybody! Sorry it's taken so long for me to upload this chapter, I've been busy and kinda forgot I had this story for a while :/ Hopefully I'll start uploading more frequently! Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **CHAPTER 46:**

watch?v=qdW3GMtVBQc

Everything was silent after that. Nobody up above the arena was saying anything. Port wasn't saying anything. All eyes were on me, and I immediately realized my mistake.

"That's… that's impossible," Port said, breaking the silence.

"No, it's not," I said, rather sheepishly after realizing what I had said in front of the entire class.

"But how can this be?" the professor asked. "There's no such thing as a Grimm-faunus!"

"And yet, here I am."

There was a moment of silence.

"Pyrosius, step outside for a moment," Port said quietly, so that only I could hear. "Class," he said, raising his voice, "continue to study from your Grimminology books."

Nobody dared to move to get their books. I started to follow Professor Port into the hall, the weight of everybody's eyes bearing down on my back.. Once the door had closed, I felt like the weight had been suddenly cut off, but once I looked over to Port's seething face, the weight came right back.

"What on Remnant were you thinking?" he suddenly raged. "Telling a lie like that!"

"What do you mean? Every part of what I said was true!"

"How do you expect me to believe something like that?"

"I don't expect you to, but I was kinda hoping you would."

"You couldn't have possibly come up with a worse lie! You ought to know better. You probably just taped those ears-"

I whirled, storming off. I couldn't take his yammering for one more minute.

"Hey! Where are you going? Come back here!"

I never stopped, never turned back, never game him another moment to start talking again, even when he started running to catch up to me. I was sick of it. Of his non-stop talking, of Christian's bullying. I was sick of the faunus not being treated like equals, sick of the fact that for the last few years I've had to wear a bandana to hide who I truly was.

I didn't stop walking until I made it all the way up to Ozpin's office. I shoved the doors open. Glynda was there, as was Dex, along somebody else, somebody wearing a white military outfit, but I didn't care.

"Pyrosius, you can't just-" Glynda started, but I wouldn't hear it.

"Professor Ozpin, get this lunatic off my back!" I yelled, pointing towards Port.

"Professor," Port started, "this student has been spreading the lie that he is-"

"A beowolf," the man in a white suit interrupting, narrowing his eyes and slowly reaching for the pistol holstered at his hip.

"General Ironwood," Ozpin said in his usual calm voice, "that is not necessary."

The man now known as General Ironwood never took his gaze off of me, but he holstered his gun again. I noticed that he didn't take his hand off of it, either.

"Peter," Ozpin started, "you mean to tell me that you didn't know that Mr. Ammora was a faunus?"

"That's not the lie he's spreading," Peter seethed.

"Neither is the fact that he's part beowolf," Oz retorted.

Professor Port stood, gaping, at Ozpin. "What do you mean?" he sputtered once he had gathered enough wits to think.

"I mean what I just said. He's part beowolf."

The Port-ly professor (pun intended) started gaping again.

"Thank you," I said, still angry with Port for not believing me, and for killing Farkas.

"That still doesn't explain," Port started, "why you broke my most prized possession over a monster."

I nearly face-palmed myself. "Have you not listened to a _single_ thing I've said since you shot him!?" I screamed in his face. "I _am_ part beowolf, one of those 'monsters,' and raised that particular 'monster' myself!"

"That monster nearly killed me!"

"I never said that I was a good parent!"

"Enough!" Ozpin yelled, and all eyes were drawn to him. I have had enough of you two fighting over this."

"But he-" I started.

"But nothing," Ozpin interrupted. "Yes, he killed your pet, but that pet would have killed him."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. It's in their nature to attack, to hurt, to cause misery and pain. I know that you aren't like that, but they are monsters. You can't change their nature. I'm sorry."

I tried to say something, but before I could open my mouth, Port started talking again.

"You can't expect him to just change his mind like that. He's a child."

"And yet," I retorted, "I know more than you."

"I will not be insulted by a child." Port seethed.

"And yet," I repeated, "you just were."

"Enough!" Ozpin yelled again. "I will not have you two arguing in my office."

"And I won't have this student in my class anymore!" Port yelled.

Everybody stood in silence. Nobody knew what to do. After a few seconds, Ozpin finally spoke up. "I will not have any teacher that speaks like that. You _will_ have Mr. Amora in your class, and you-"

"No, that's cool," I interrupted. "If he doesn't want me in his class, then I don't want to be in his class. If I was forced to, then I wouldn't learn anything, and he wouldn't teach me. It would just be a waste of time."

"Pyrosius…" Glynda said cautiously.

"I said that I'm not going to be in his class," I said in a low voice. "Period."

Glynda was about to say something else, but I cut her off by storming out of the room. I couldn't even think straight. If they thought that they could force me to go to Port's class, then they were wrong.

I headed over to my dorm. Iris was waiting outside the door. "Pyro?" she started, uncertain. I stormed my way past her and shouldered the door open, heading to where my stuff was located. I grabbed my backpack, loaded a few changes of clothes in, some food, and some other things I thought I was going to need. When I turned back to leave the dorm, Iris was in the doorway.

"Pyro," she said again. I almost shouldered my way past her again, but something about her made me want to stop and listen to her.

"What is it?" I asked a little more forcefully than I intended. A look of pain crossed her face, then vanished. Suddenly, she lunged forward. I instinctively reached for my knife, but then she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. It was a small phrase, but I knew what she meant. _For avoiding you for the past few weeks. For not helping you when you were shot. For everything._

 _For Farkas._

Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back. For a second, I let myself stay in that position, just me and her. Then I remembered everything that had happened in the past hour, and all of my anger and pain came rushing back to me. I released Iris from the hug, and was surprised to see her in tears.

"Please don't," she cried.

"I have to," I cried back, then walked past her and headed out towards the main doors.

On my way there, I saw the one person that I had hoped to avoid.

"Hey there buddy!" Christian said when he saw me.

"I don't have time for this," I replied and tried to walk past him.

"I saw you over there with your girlfriend," he said, ignoring my remark. "You too make up?"

"I said I don't have time for this!" I yelled as I punched him straight in the nose. There was a sickening (yet satisfying) _crunch_ as my fist made contact, and I kept making my way towards the main doors with Christian's screaming behind me.

As I left outside, I turned back towards the school, towards my dorm, and saw Iris looking out the window, tears streaming down her face.

I turned around again, and without looking back I made my way towards the Emerald Forest.


End file.
